Two rail lines once existed to help supply the Dawson City and Klondike gold fields area with coal. The oldest, Cliff Creek, began developing lignite veins 1 3/4 miles up Cliff Creek in 1898. Coal mining, where a 400 foot tunnel had been run, proceeded ahead of the railroad which was waiting spikes so it could be completed. Instead the first loads of coal bound for Dawson were hauled to the Yukon River with horse-drawn wagons.
A Porter saddletank arrived in August or September of 1899 to service the North American Transportation and Trading Company which also operated its own steamboats and barges for hauling the coal back upriver. It was very similar to the four Porters that would later be brought to Bear Creek, except that this Porter had a straight stack. This NAT&TCo seven-ton locomotive is believed to be the first locomotive to enter into service in the Klondike district.
NAT&TCo also brought in six short wheel base coal wagons and a number of smaller gauge mining cars for underground tramming.
