Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-12-09
From Denver to LeadvllIe.

-tLuCY ISarcOW, IN uarperS Magazine.
From Denver to LeadvllIe.
When on our wss to New York, from
San Francisco, We found that we could
purchase ticket by the way of Denver
.s cheaply as by any other route. AT
Denver We thought best to visit Lead.
Vile, not merely to see the place itself
out for the sake of the grand, beautiful
md varied scenery through which the
railroad passes to reach Leadville. We
left Denver at eight O'Clock in the
morning and moved rapidly along in a
southerly direction over the Denver
and Sonth Park Division of the Union
Pacific 3 .ilwsy. This is narrow gauge
road and for the FIRST twenty miles
passes over comparatively level coun.
try near the South Platte River. Then
he road turns to the right, and keeping
close to the river. enters the ragged
wallis of the Rocky Mountains. 1t
must be remembered that Denver, our
'tarting point, is over Eve thousand
feet above the level of the sea, aud the
gorge We now enter is known rs Platte
Canyon. For several miles there is no
valley whatever. There Is nothing
nut the railroad, the river and the rocks
above. Iu great many places there is
not soil enough for the telegraph poles.
hut the wires ere suspended from iron
bars inserted in holes drilled in the
rocky sides Of the gorge.
When the engineers'flrst entered it
o mark out line for railroad, it was
DOT only impossible for a vehicle or q
lorse to pass through it. but as we'll
for the most skillful pedestrian or the
most expert cliu Der. There were, of
,ourse. places where the banks Of the
turbulent river were not precipitous
cliffs, extending heavenward hundreds,
# not thousands, Of feet-but they
we're few and far between. The widest
imagination never dwelt upon the idea
+ q wagon road or even cattle trail,
and the man who had dared to suggest
the possibility of railroad through the
aarrow gorge. would have been voted
Al inspired idiot by very large popu-
ar msj jority. Indeed. it was not long
ago that board of experienced engi
uesrs. after preliminary survey Of the
canyon. reported adversely upon pro.
posed scheme Of railway transit
through it, declaring it impracticable.
Il not impossible. From the entrance
Of the mountains the construction of
the road demanded the exercise Of the
highest order Of engineering skill to
begin with, and the firmest, steadiest
and most unyielding determination
employing brain, nitro glyc cerine and
greenbacks-to complete. So difficult
gas the preliminary work Of surveying,
that ordinary methods we're cast aside
and new ones, adapted to the purpose,
employed. Theodolite, chain and tran
sit gave place to measurement by tri.
angulstion and stadia hairs; shovels and
picks to nitro. glycerine and rend- rock
powder. The serpentine route through
the chssm is marked ON every side BY
the terrible condict with the rocks and
waves. and evidences the fact that
every foot OF the way was desperately
fought for. In not less than dozen
places the river il turned into new
channels to make way for the railroad,
while miles of the line we're made
by blasting through solid granite, the
cuts being forty feet deep in places.
Where riffs of the blasted rock do not
serve as guard on the river side. arti-
fetal walls, apparently as substantial
as their native neighbors. have been
constructed. From the summit Of pre-
cipitous cliffs thousand feet high, men
we're lowered by means of ropes tied
about their bodies, and SO held until
they could drill-holes in the solid
wallis. place pins in the holes, and
boards upon the pins-s platform upon
which to prosecute their further work
of drilling and blasting. The steepest
grade between the mouth of the
canyon and the forks of the river, SH
miles. is 137 feet to the mile; from the
forks to the terminus. 15s feet. The
curvatures OF the road are the most
marvellous feature of it. 1t is q sue
cession Of curves from beginning to
end, all running to a tangent. The
greatest curvature below the forks is
d degrees, or q radius of 24OH feet;
above the forks, Is. joining the
curvature Of 2s degrees is ors Of $3.50
degrees. forming TIVE nssrly sonplsts