Deemed a historic civil engineering marvel, the narrow-gauge White Pass & Yukon route began operation in 1898. Today, it stretches 110 miles from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. Since their arrival in the mid-1950s, General Electric's "shovelnose" locomotives have been the iconic face of the railroad for eight decades. Distinctive in their current green and yellow garb, the GEs have hauled millions of visitors over the internationally famous rail line.

For many years, the White Pass fleet of GEs consisted of eleven six-axle road units (#90-100) which varied in weight from 84 to 86-tons. With the installation of Cummins QSK45L replacement engines during the 2008-2011 timeframe, initial specifications may have changed. Two 25-ton industrial-type switchers, along with a small Plymouth augmented the road units. The most notable GE on the roster was a one-of-a-kind 76-ton, dual-gauge end-cab built for the U.S. Army as #3000.

A group of 10 Montreal Locomotive Works-built DL535Es (#101-110) were acquired new in 1969 and constituted the rest of the WP&Y roster for nearly 25 years. The MLWs featured a 1200-hp, 6-cylinder 251 engine designed by Alco, and they resembled a scaled-down version of the mid-1960s proposed (but never built) low-nose Alco Century 620. The acquisition of Bombardier- built DL535E #114 in 1996 was the railroad's final motive power acquisition during the 20th Century.

The most recent change in WP&Y motive power occurred during 2020 with the addition of six E3000CC-DC which were developed by National Railway Equipment. The 2500-hp newcomers wore a dip-black livery with white lettering and a large red waist band. A recent report suggests that one or more of the NREX locos were repainted into the standard green and yellow scheme.

New: 1 August 2023