Greendale

When we left Anchorage in August of 1957, 4 of us Air Force enlisted
personnel piled into a 1951 Chevy 4 door sedan and headed for the Alcan
highway. When we got to Tok Junction we were told that the highway was
flooded and we would have to wait several days for the water to recede
and the road to be repaired OOOORR we could detour to Dawson and go
down to Whitehorse to get back on the Alcan. We chose to go the detour
route. Just before we reached Dawson we had to cross the Yukon River in
a very small 2 car ferry that ran by cable stretched across this ferocious
river. We crossed without event and entered the town of Dawson. Every
building looked like something out of the old west with the false fronts but
was built high on stilts like it was ready for a flood. When we inquired we
were told that it was because of the deep snow in Yukon in the winter. If
buildings were on ground level when 8-10 feet of snow accumulated on the
roads then everyone would have to dig down to enter a building. Instead
buildings were on stilts so they would come closer to top snow level in the
winter.
Anyway we left Dawson and drove toward Whitehorse. At that time
accommodations of any kind were at least 100 miles apart and you stopped
to gas up or make any repairs at every opportunity. When we were about
75 to 100 miles north of Whitehorse the steering yoke on the front
wheels dropped to the ground and we had no steering. That stopped us
until one of the guys went back up the road and found what he thought
might be one of the two bolts holding the steering in place We tried it and
VIOLA it worked but it was only one of two bolts that really are necessary
to hold the steering in place. Since we did not have any choice we resumed
our trip but the steering got came loose again. We re-tightened the bolt
only to drive a mile or two and have it come loose a third, fourth and fifh
time. Finally we decided to drive as long as we could with the loose bolt
and tighten it only when it fell out. We drove at about 20 miles an hour on
this 75-100 foot wide washboard gravel road with about a foot high crown
in the center. The crown was important cause we had nearly a full turn of
play in the steering wheel. We would start driving at the ditch side of the
road and nurse the car toward the crown and then drive until it appeared
the car was about to crest the crown then we would slack off the steering
and let the car drift back to the side of the road and repeat the scenario
over and over. When we finally reached Whitehorse we were dead tired
and it was early in the morning. We found a station could not properly
repair the steering but would weld the linkage to the axle so we could
continue.
We drove south of Whitehorse and were going merrily along when the
engine threw a rod, luckily we were near a resort on a lake that was still
open and just as fortunate there was an abandoned chevy truck. Upon
inquiry we found that the engine was still good in the truck but had not
been run in several years. All 4 of us were aircraft mechanics so we
decided we would change the engines and try to continue the trip. We
removed both engines traded them and the owner of the car wanted to be
sure the valves were free so we removed the head and made sure the
valves functioned properly. Removal and replacement only took about ten
hours and then we were again on our way. About an hour away from the
resort one of the valves dropped from the head thru a piston and into the
oil pan. We turned around to Whitehorse. The same station that welded
the steering found us a new short block in a warehouse and installed it for
us (we were too pooped to work on it any more) After paying more for the
replacement engine than the car was worth we continued on our trip down
the highway. We had several other incidents occur but that is another tale.
We finally reached Dawson Creek at the south end of the Alcan and
decided to go to Calgary to the Calgary Stampede. It was fun but nothing
to compared to our recent escapades. The balance of the trip to Helena
Montana was none eventful.
The drive and one passenger stayed with the car and went to California.
The other passenger and myself went to the local YMCA cleaned up and
hitchhiked east, me to Hales Corners, Wisconsin and the other guy to
Orlando Florida.