The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-12-03
Through the Continental Divide.

one OF the greatest engineering enter
/ prises Of the decade has just been com
| pleted in COloradO-an ENTERPRISE fully
| as great as the tunneling of the HOceac
/ Mountain, whose completion was cele-
brated as a great national affair Rut
these are the days Of great enterprises.
and the piercing Of the great Divide bv
tunnel nearly two miles long in one
OF the widest mountain regions I'm the
world has scarcely attracted attention
outside of Colorado.
The road itself-the Colorado Midland
which passes through the new tunnel is
one Of the most wonderful pieces of en-
cheering In the world All the way
from Colorado Springs 10 Gienwood it
is a succession Of surprises TO the
traveller, and that part of it which runs
from Leadville over the great COntinen-
tai Divide is only the climax Of a series
Of surprising victories over the most ap-
parently insurmountable natural obsta-
cies. The Hagerman tunnel at the top
OF the pass which has been used since
the road was opened about seven years
go. in 1904 feet long and ll,52S feet
above sea-level and the Midland IS here
the highest standard-gauge railroad in
the world and the highest Of any gauge
except one in the Andes. The big tres
tie is 200 feet high. cost 5000 10 build,
and would have 10 be rebuilt every eight
years. Besides this. immense rotary
snow-ploughs have to be kept in opera
ton at both ends Of the old tunnel all
winter, the snow on the west side Of the
Divide being often thirteen feet deep on
the level. The new tunnel, q is estimated
will save in operating expenses $1,000
every year, besides Irsuring the continu-
ON ono inn % hn CO.. fInf lr
100000 spent on the tunnel is expected
10 be a good investment
The Busk-lnvanhce tunnel, as the rev
one is called, pierces the main saguache
pronounced sahwash) Range, which
here forms the Continental Divide. about
twenty miles west Of Le1dyille, at a
height cf 1000 feet above sea-leYel 1850
feet below the crest Of the mountain,
and 12S feet below the Hagerman tunnel.
Its length is $685. feet Work upon IL
was begun October Sth, 1890. and since
that time has been pushed unremitungly
from both ends, twenty hours a day. with
the most modern scientific apparatus.
The backbone OF the continent is Of
solid granite, and compassionate drills
and dynamite have done the work Of ex-
cavation. There has been quite rivalry
between the two gangs at work on the
two ends as TO which should reach the
centre first. The Busk or eastern gang
won the race, for the Invanhoe men were
retarded by water, and the final junction
was made "A thousand feet west of the
centre. The dividing wall was pierced
by the drill at $50 Tuesday evening Octo-
Der nth. and at 6l5 the next evening the
blast was fired which broke the wall
down.
The man who conceived the idea OF
this tunnel was Mr. b. II. Bryant, chief
engineer OF the road. The man who, as
epfine~~ /" charge. directed the work
was Mr.. w. II. Leffingwell. The tun-
nel took three years 70 build. and cost
s.. 0O0,OO0 II Is a little less than two
miles long. The plans Of the engineers
worked GU; with great accuracy, and
the alignment. when the last partitions
were cleared away. was perfect.-Harper's
Weekly.