The New York herald., 1920-12-03
A RAILROAD OF WONDERS.
"Reminiscences of the Early Days of
the Denver and Rio Grande.

To THE NEW YORK HERALD: The pur-
chase of the Denver and Rio Grande
Railroad by the Western Pacific may be
OF little interest to most readers of news
papers. but to one who forty years ago
swung rails under a scorching sun. paid
ten cents a mile for transportation and
carried an annual pass on the Scenic
Line of the World" the sale is of sem
timental concern. With something akin
be allowed to lament what seems to be
the legal necessity for change In the
magic title, Denver and Rio Grande.
The original plan for the construction
of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway.
as 1t was at first called. was conceived
and largely executed by General Will
lam ]. Palmer, who had won his mill
tary laurels with Major General George
H. Thomas in the civil war. From the
main line. designed to connect Denver
and FL Paso, General Palmer intended
to build such extensions through the
Southwest as would enable, the system
to control the traffic of that territory.
REIMBURSEMENT of the goal on the Mex
lean border was due to war with the
Atchison. Topeka and Santa Fe for pos
session of the Grand Canon of the Ar
kansas. in the settlement of which the
Denver and Rio Grande agreed to shun
Ell Paso If the Santa Fe would keep out
of Denver and Leadville.
Track laying began at Denver July 81.
1871. Only few unimportant villages
then marked the $50 miles to Ell Paso
Denver had population of $500 /;
Pueblo. 500. and the stage between the
two points averaged three passengers
day, while the first locomotive to enter
Colorado Springs whistled for one log
cabin.
In New Life in New Lands Grace
Greenwood tells of her excursion to the
end Of the track, fifteen miles from
Denver. where the remorseless officers
of the road insisted that she should pay
her way by driving a spike. The news
papers declared that she triumphantly
drove home the spike. "But," said
Grace, Il really thought 1t wouldn't go
home till morning" Later she enjoyed
a thirty mile ride on the pilot or cow
catcher Of an engine.
The third president of the Denver and
Rio Grande was w. S. Jackson, husband
Of Helen Hunt Jackson. author of IRA.
mona" whose body. first buried, accord
ing to her wish. on Cheyenne Mountain.
overlooking the plains. now lies in Ever
green Cemetery at Colorado Springs
Nearby is tie tomb of General william
7 11x- a1,tta t1xy
motives Of the railway miracle of the
age. In 1872 a traveller wrote that
Glen Eyrie, General Palmer's summer
retreat was probably ,ne most romantic
spot for home in the world
The first passenger engine of the Den
yer and Rio Gran lie was the Montezuma
To this day It refreshes me to recall the
names of the locomotives of the line in
1881, so vividly they bring up the noun
tains, streams and towns of that fas-
cinating region. Among them were-the
Roaring Fork. San Juan. Ptarmigan,
Fmbudo, San Miguel. Moreno. Rita Alta,
Sangre de Cristo and Mogollon. The
first passenger engines on the road,
which in the beginning was of narrow
gauge. weighed $4,000 pounds and the
passenger coaches $4,000 pounds.
Because of its course through noun
tains of solid rock the building of the
Denver and Rio Grande and its subse-
quent expansion to standard gauge were
attended with unusual danger Some
thirty years ago the widening of the
track through the town of Red Cliff,
Colo. made necessary the reduction of
sharp curve along the Eagle River.
For weeks men drilled the rocky bar
rier Then the bores were mined with
giant powder. and the 500 inhabitants
were directed to group themselves far
up on the side Of Horn Silver Mountain,
overlooking the town. The explosion
which followed shook the everlasting
hills and when the upheaved rock. which
seemed to fill the sky. descended It
sma shed nearly every roof in the prin-
cpal street of homes.
The Scenic Line Of the World Is well
named. or the view Of the Rocky Noun
tains from near Denver Bayard Taylor
said in effect that he knew of no pic
ture of the Alps which could be placed
beside il. As seen from Marshall Pass
the Sangre de Cristo range is never to
be forgotten. An eminence at Red Cliff
affords one OF the sublimest sights known
to man. the Mountain of the Holy Cross
The Royal and the Totec gorges. the
cafons of the Grand and Gunnison riv-
ers and the Grand Canon Of the Colo
rado. whose northern portal is pointed
out at Green River. are the worlds blue
ribbon chasms. II Is land of wonders
Charles NJ. Levey, president of the
Western Pacific. now controlling the
Denver and Rio Grande. began railroad
life as a telegraph operator on the Mich
igan Central. He was born among the
cornfelds near Olena, Huron county,
Ohio. WILLIAM B. THoM.
NEW YORK, December 2.