The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1880-12-22
A RAILWAY in the ROcky MOuntaIns:

A correspondent of the Denver Times,
describing the extension of the Denver
and Rio Grande railway from Conejos
westward toward the San Juan country,
gives these picturesque bits. He says:
For miles the railway curved among
the hills, keeping sight of the plains and
catching frequent glimpses OF the viii
lage. Its innumerable windings along
the brows of the hills seemed, in merc
wantonness, as 10th to abandon so beau
tiful a region. Almost imperceptibly
the foothills changed into mountains and
the valleys deepened into canons, and
winding around the point of one OF the
mountains it found itself overlooking the
picturesque valley or canon of Los Pinos
creek. Eastward was the rounded sum-
NIT of the great mountain of San An
tonic; over the nearest height could be
seen the top of Sierra Blanca, canopied
with perpetual clouds; in front were
castellated crags, art-like monuments
and stupendous precipices. Having al
| lured the railway into their awful fast
nesses, the mountains seemed determined
| to batfe its further progress. But it
was a strong-hearted railway, and al
though little giddy 1000 feet above
| the stream, it cuts its way through the
| crags and among the monuments and
bears onward for miles up the valley I.
A projecting point. tg,o high for a cut
and too abrupt for curve, was over
come by a tunnel. The tracklayers are
now busy at work laying down the steel
rail at q point few miles beyond this
tunnel. The grade is nearly completed
for many miles further. From the pres
ent end of the track for the next tour
or five miles along the grade, the scenery
| =, hn
| in1North America Engineers who have
traversed every mile of mountain rail-
road in the Union, assert that it is the
finest they have seen. Perched on the
dizzy mountain side, at an altitude oi
$500 feet above the sea-greater than
that of Neta pass-l 900 feet above tho
valley, with battlemented crags rising
500 or 600 feet above, the behoider is en-
raptured with the view. At one point
the canon narrows into an awful gorge,
apparently but q few yards wide
and nearly 1000 feet in depth. be-
tween almost perpendicular walls ol
granite. Here q high point OF granite
has to be tunneled, and in this tunne
the rock.men are at work drilling anc
bias ing to complete the passage. which
is now open to pedestrians. The tre
quent explosions OF the blasts echo ano
echo among the mountains until they
die away in the distance. Looking
down the valley from the tunnel, the
scene is one never TO be forgotten. The
lofty precipices, the distant heights, the
fantastic monuments, the contrast of The
rugged crags and the graceful curves o
the silvery stream beneath them, tht
dark green pines interspersed with pop
lar groves. bright yellow in theil
autumn foliage, that crown the neigh
boring SUBMITS ts--height, depth, dis
tance and color-combine to constitute ,
landscape that is destined to be painted
by thousands of artists, reproduced
again and again by photographers, anC
to adorn the walls of innumerahle par
lors and galleries of art. Beyond th'
tunnel for a mile or more the scene i
even more picturesque, though Of les
extent. The traveller looks down int,
the gorge and sees the stream plungini
in % succession of snow white cascade
through narrow cuts between the per
| rpod ion lar rocks