The daily sentinel., 1909-10-11

shorter tunnel under Cerro Hill. the
broadguaging of the Denver d Rio
Grande from Salida to MOntrose and
thence to Ouray; the announcement
that number of Rio Grande offic-
ials well known here, are to go to
the Western Pacific, the extension of
the Burlington road from Guernsey,
Wyo, to San Francisco, are the topics
of some most important announce
ments, of great interest to the people
of Grand junction, that have been
made since Saturday.
A vast plan OF railroad improve
ment, which ranks next to the Gun
nison tunnel in importance to the
Uncompahgre valley, is the broad
gauging of the Denver & Rio Grande
from Salida TO Montrose and from
Montrose to Ouray, which, II is said,
on good authority, will be undertaken
in the near future says a dispatch
sent out from Montrose to Denver
and Salt Lake papers sunday The
dispatch continues as follows.
II became known today when Paul
Blunt. one of the construction en-
gineers of the Denver & Rio Grande,
left Montrose. after having spent four
hhS ~ AAA' Wy anu NlNAlAlAg lhdNlllE
the preliminary surveys and gather
ing data.
The utmost secrecy was maintain
ed by Blunt, but the information has
leaked out through reliable sources
This improvement has been in con-
temptation by the Rio Grande for
some time, but now that the Western
Pacific has been practically complet-
ed, the road finds itself for the first
time in a position to secure funds
for the work
A tunnel three miles long under
Marshall Pass, and another shorter
tunnel under Cerro Hill between
MOntrose and Cimarron, are included
in the plan of Improvement. Many
grades will be cut down, and in some
places an entirely new line will be
surveyed in order to eliminate curves
The proposed new line will short
en- the distance between Denver and
Salt Lake fifty miles.
The alida-Montrose line will be
the main line to the west in connec-
ton with the Western Pacific. 1t
offers much more direct haul than
the Leadville-Salida line. and for this
reason, together with the phenom-
email growth of the freight business
in the tlncompahgre valley, due to
the vast amount of new land which
is being put under cultivation. makes
it necessary to push work on the new
line as rapidly as possible.
II is estimated that 1t will require
at least two years to complete the
tunnel under Marshall Pass.
A dispatch yesterday from San
Francisco says: THAT James j.
10 Of
the Burlington railroad from Denver
to the Pacific coast is stated by T. b.
Walker, Minneapolis millionaire. -
interested in California timber lands,
who has close relations with the
great railway magnate. He is quoted
as follows:
In a talk We had recently. Hill
told me that he did not believe that
line from San Francisco north
would be of great advantage. but that
the extension of the Burlington to
this city, probably from the end of
the Cheyenne or Guernsey branch,
would be.
This would make a through line
| from Chicago TO San Francisco. with
which the Oregon trunk line could
be connected at some point in north
I ern California. The line would give
the Burlington a share of the Sacra-
mento valley traffic, and a feeder
might be built through the San
joaquin valley. With the Oregon
trunk connection another line would
be opened to eastern Washington,
Idaho and Montana.
Commenting on the report con
lcerning the Improvements on the Rio
| Grande and the extension of the Bur
/ ilington dispatch from Denver to-
days says in part
Reports concerning the Denver &s
Rio Grande are practically confirmed
/ in Denver. though II is stated that it
may be two or three years before the
actual work is undertaken. II was
stated last night by an official of the
road that these improvements, which
have been contemplated i'm vague
way for some time, are now begin
ming to take on an aspect of reality,
and that they are sure TO take place
in the near future
1t has been rumored in local rail
road circles for months that surveys
are being made and estimates of the
cost of these improvements. Partial
estimates of the Marshall Pass tun.
mel have been prepared, and the i'm
provements have been long discussed
as a means of relieving the system of
some of its worst grades on both sides
of the range
Regarding the proposed extension
of the Burlington to the Pacific coast,
no definite announcement has ever
been made. At the present time the
road ends in Denver. and must de-
pend entirely on the good will of the
competitors for business from the
California coast except for the pres
tige it has through the one-half own
ership of the Colorado Midland.
I All western railroad men are great
I ly interested in the coming appoint
ment of officials of the new Western
Pacific. With only twenty-eight miles
of track to lay between Salt Lake and