New-York tribune., 1922-08-20

fifty miles from Denver and will start at an
elevation of 9,190 feet above sea level. The
tunnel will be six and three-tenths miles long.
The western portal will be at an elevation of
9,lO0 feet. The peak of the tunnel will be
near the center and viii drain both ways. the
western grade being .080 and the eastern .02O.
A pioneer bore eight by ten feet will first
be engineered and the rock will be removed
from the main tunnel by connecting galleries.
The main tunnel will be sixteen feet wide.
with clearance of twenty-four feet Work
will begin at both portals at the same time.
The tunnel will be electrically operated and
trains will be hauled through by electric
trucks. The pioneer tunnel at the side of the
main tunnel, will be used to carry power. light
and compressed air to ventilate the main tuu-
mel. Also it will be used for the transnorta
ton Of water for irrigation purposes. as OUT
lined. Water will be pumped to shaft
higher than the main tunnel, thus permitting
1t to be taken to South Boulder Creek. on the
other side of the range, by gravity.
Now that the building OF the tunnel is as
sured it is probable that the Moffat read viii
be completed to Salt Lake without further
financial difficulty The present terminus of
the road is IN Routt County, the most north
western county CT Colorado. All the main
difficulties of construction have been met.
From the main range Of the Rocky Mountains
the road extends through Middle Park, a
heavily wooded valley many miles in extent.
From Middle Park it plunges into Gore Can
yen, an awe-inspiring gorge, the granite walls
of which rise several hundred feet Then the
road comes out Oh the plateau lands, which
Ill.
eastern Utah to Salt Lake, broken by low
mountains
In case the Moffat road is not completed,
however, the distance by rail from Denver to
Salt Lake will still be shortened by ITO miles,
for, by building forty-mile connection
junction can be effected with the Denver G. Rio
Grande at Dotsero
Before reaching the main tunnel on the
Moffat road the traveller viii be carried
through score Of smaller tunnels in the foot
hills approaching James Peak. These small
tunnels made the construction of the road in
ITS early stages tremendously expensive
From Tolland, on the slopes of James Peak
the Moffat road now ascends in q steady climb
over the Great Divide, considerably above tim
Der line at its highest point. 1t is the highest
standard gauge railroad in the world The
trip to Corona from Denver has been very
pupular with tourists who have enjoyed the
novel experience of passing from the hot
plains III midsummer TO eternal snowbanks on
the crest of the mountains.
1t is estimatei that fighting snow on the
Divide during winter months has cost the
Moffat road Al per cent of its earnings This
expense will be eliminated by the tunnel TO
see great rotary plow clearing this railroad
amid the impressive crags above timber line
is an inspiring spectacle
The territory to be opened by the tunnel
through the Great Divide and the completion
of the Moffat road is one of varied richness.
Stock raising has been the chief industry, but
much general ranching is carried on in the
valleys and on the rich mesas Gold mining
has been done more or less extensively at
Hahn's Peak since early days, and other min
erals abound. The great ccai fields in this
region have not been opened, because the dif-
ficulties of transportation precluded profitable
mining
The plateau region of Routt County is one
OF the last stands OF the cowboy. Here vast
herds have grazed under charge of picturesque
riders. Also bands OF sheep have roanled the
prairie. But now the country will coine in for,
larger and more varied development, and its
picturesque life, which has inspired Zane
Grey, William Macleod Raine md other writ
ers of Western romance. will give way to the
utilitarian as a result Of this conquering Of
the granite barrier of the Rockies