The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1921-01-14

BY this means Idaho rrings and En-
pire will be reach without at any
point encounterin any grade as heavy
as 2 per cent
By the use of this route between
Denver and Glenwood Springs for its
transcontin en- al business, instead of
following the Rio Grande via Pueblo
and Salida, the Buriinat ton will not oay
reduce the distance 1856 miles. but it
vii avoid two high divides. That at
Palmer Lake means 9 climb of 2.0G0
feet in 81 miles ron Denver and 1850
feet in the % miles from Colorado
Springs. AT Tennessee pass it attains
an altitude of 1920 feet, only I,4aI
feet lower than Corona, on the Moffat
road. On both of trese divides con
siderable A pei cent grade is encoun-
tered. The Empire tunnel will be only
a few hundrt d feet higher than the
town of Empire, the altitude OF which
is {, ,264 feet, while the portals of the
James Peak tunnel would be 8, 100 feet
above sea level.
Although the Burlington. in order to
make use of he shortest imme lately
avalla able route er it, recently ac
quired Moffat, Rio Grande and Western
Pacific lines proposes to at once build
the connection between Orestod and
Dotsero, d stance of Al miles. there is
evidence that il is not content to max
this cutoff part of it's permanent main
transcontInental route BY carrying
out the plans of Mr. Moffat for the ex
tension of the Denver & Salt Lake rail
road, II will be able TO still further re-
duce the distance between Chicago and
San Francisco, and give it a still great
er command over the through traffic.
This will result in putting Routt county
o. the principal transcontinental sys-
tenn of the country.
Governor Simon Bamberger of Utah
has recently been in consultation witn
the management of the Burlington. and
st week he returned to Salt Lake Cit,
after an absence of month spent in
work in the interests of the railroad,
which he proposes to build from Salt
Lake into the Uintah basin. Upon his
arrival home he stated that he knew
that arrangerne is were under way for
financing the tunnel through the range
Another object of the B arlington in
desiring the immediate completion of
the Dotsero cutoff, is to benefit from
the demand for coal in The west. One
of he principal OF jects of Governor
Bamberger in projecting his. railroad
was to assist in supplying this demand.
and he has stated that Routt county
ceal would be shipped to South Amer
can rorts as far away as Chill, if there
was any way of getting this superior
fuel to the Pacific coast; also that the
Utah coal is not satisfactory for this
trade, and that the demand on the coast
is greater than Utah can possibly sup
ply.
By the construction of only Al miles
of track, from Crested on the Moffat
road to Dotsero on the Rio Grande, the
Burlington will obtain much profitable
business, bo'h freight and passenger,
even before the completion of the En-
pire tunnel
Through the adoption of the Moffat
road as a portion of the BurIington's
through passenger line, Routt and Mof
fat county residents will be given the
advantage of greatly improved passen-
ger service to Denver. 1t is only 62
miles from Steamboat Springs to Ore
stod, and there local trains serving this
territory would make direct connection
with the through transcontinental
trains
Information regarding the acquisi-
ton of the Moffat road by the Burling-
ton has been in the hanGs of certain