Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1899-10-07
SIDE TRACKS,.
THE SIGHTS AND SCENES
On The Denver And Rio Grande
Railroad-The Famous
Loop On a Bender.
GRAND JUNCTION ANDITS FRUIT

possesses without doubt, the most magnl-
ficent scenery in the world. Il has been
our good fortune while sojourning in
Colorado. to take some of these trips on
the ID. & r. c.. "The Scenic Line OF the
World" This'road is..sple mildly equipped
and the tourist or pleasure seeker secures
every comfort while travelling on the IA
nous .Scenic Line, which is as essential
to Colorado as the great distributing. life
spreading artery is to the never-resting
pulsating heart.
In the land of wonders and surprises.
of contrasts, sharp and wonderful, to
which there is said to be no comparison
on the other side Of the "big pond" it
would be simply impossible to touch even
lightly on the sights and scenes, on the
wonders and panoramic pictures our eyes
have feasted upon in this enchanted land.
In our feeble way. however, we shall en-
deavor 10 briefly mention some of the
picturesque beauties OF Colorado that
have been immortalized in song, that we
may further assist the imagination OF those
who have not beheld these scenes, and
refresh the memory of those who have
beheld them. One of the first trips to
be taken out OF Denver and over the
mountains, is usually that to the far-iam-
ed "Loop," the most wonderful piece Of
engineering in the country. The road
here is certainly ION ben der.
The tip is made over the Colorado
Southern Railroad. Leaving Denver the
road follows the mountains, those mag
n'ficent specimens of Gods handiwork,
sublime in their grandeur. Following
the mountains the railroad curves in and
out, now to the right. now to the left. the
engine being in sight of the rear coach
most OF the time. The Rockies jut out
here and there, until one can almost
touch them from either side of the train.
Here and there appears formation Of
rock. similar in form and construction to
the human face. Then we pass through
huge rocks. meeting overhead. and styl-
ed the Gateway" Flowers peep be-
tween rocks and boulders, and here and
there patch OF snow can be seen glis-
tening in the sunlight on the tops of the
lottiest peaks. The mountain streams
rush on over the boulders, and massive
rocks. tearing madly on in their. reckless
course dawn the mountain side.
Ever and anon cloud envelopes the
higher peaks until they seem to be swal-
lowed up into the heavens. The grand
eur of it all 10 sublime, and. one ''looks
through nature up to natures God. -
Finally we come to Central City, or
Idaho Springs. Here stop is made,
and we then continue on to the road s
terminus at "Silver Plume" o.476 feet
,k Il C Or,
describe The magnihcence of the view OF
the surrounding country, Mountains to
the right of us. mountains to the LETT of
us, mountains in front OF us. lowered in
all their mulestic splendor. II was indeed
grand. None Of the beauty of scenery
was lost on the return trip The magni-
ficent doublings and twistings OF the road
over the mountains, which have been
chiistened the "Georgetown Loop"
could be seen to better advantage on the
return tip. Pictures OF these have not
in the least been exaggerated, and the
construction Of the road is a piece OF
wonderful engineering and an evidence
of human skill and ingenuity.
When beholding the mountains we ex-
claimed "What hath God wrought
when beholding this serpentine curve cut
out of the rocks, meIe shelf on the
edge Of which trains run and carry hu-
man freight safely to an altitude OF 1000
feet, we exclaimed what hath man
wrought" On the return trip we had
the novel experience of being between
two storms in the mouLtains-one back
of Us and one in front OF us. We had
the benefit of their grandeur and awful
ness without the unpleasant experience
OF being caught in either of them. Every
body who is nybody. and who comes to
Denver takes the trip around the Loop.
The trains are always crowded and as
the trip is made especially for the scenery
the trains are made up of observation
coaches. all Of which are filed. Each
trip one takes out of Denver and over
the scenic lines Of the West, he thinks
more grander. and more grander than its
predecessor. Another trip. famous for
its scenery and which tourists and pleas
ure seekers delight in and enthuse over
is the one to Grand Junction. over the
Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, part
OF which trip is made over narrow guage,
and partly over broad guage system.
The narrow guage system OF Colorado.
with its thousands of miles Of road rum
ming across plains, through canons and
over snow-capped mountains. has been
the wonder Of the engineering world for
some years past, while the small but
powerful locomotives have been viewed
by thousands with surprise and admira-
ton. The train for Grand Junction leaves
Denver at GAS p. m. over the narrow
guage. and everybody on the Pullman
"Ouray" proceeds to "turn in shortly
alter leaving the city. For one, TO
whom the curves and twists through the
gorges and canons is yet an unknown
quantity, there is little sleep in store. He
holds on like grim death, for fear of be-
| ing bounced out on the floor. He says
his prayers over and over. lest he close
his eyes and wake up-he doesn't know
where. He trembles and shakes. lest
his upstairs neighbor caves in on him, OF
rolls out of his elevated couch with dull
thud on the floor at his side. He tor
lures himself with all sorts of foolish fears
and imaginations until morning dawns
and he rises to see the sun do likewise
and then wants to stick hat pin in him.
self for having been such blasted fool
and NOT knowing that he was only wind
| ing in and out Royal Gorge or Crane
Canon, or some other old place, and no
going on a straight line as though b.
we're on the B. & o.. going over (,
Washington from Annapolis.
Continued.