Evening star., 1926-05-02
S|X-M|LE TUNNEL
NEARING FINISH
Cut in Colorado Will Lop Off
173 Miles of Railroad
Travel.

BY the Associated Press.
DENVER, May 1.-The Moffet tun-
mel, cut OF six miles through the
Continentl Divide. Is nearing compile
tion in western Colorado.
The builders are the sons of pioneers
who knew that railroad through the
Rocky Mountains would mean the
opening Of an undeveloped empire.
The tunnel will lop Off 173 miles OF
railroad travel between Denver and
Salt Lake City. They now are 600
miles apart as the train travels.
Five lives already have been given
up in the project.
The tunnel is going through at an
elevation Of about 5000 feet. Above
rest the sky-reaching crest Of the di-
vide-the backbone Of America
which swells into the clouds, $4,000
feet above sea level. Work Is proceed
ing "a hours n day, towards the
center from the east and west portals.
The west portal Is near Corona, "the
top O. the world" On the east side
Tabernash will be the last station.
Bore Will BE Electrified.
The bore will be electrified. Fire
will be banked in steam locomotives
ard electric engines will haul loco
motives and trains through the
passage. Suction fans will purify the
air. Automobiles also will be provided
transportation on flat cars during
certain hours of the day.
The cost of the project already has
exceeded $9,0O0,000. Gigantic obstacles
impeded the path of the builders.
Great areas OF soft muck required
extensive timbering. while the Winter
l,o lcL, n ho
through mountains Of snow to reach
the portals.
The tunnel is about Is feet in width
and "a feet high. Parallel with the
railroad tunnel Is a water tunnel s
feet wide and eight feet high.
Through this Denver will get a
water supply from tributaries of
mountain streams that tap the Colo
RADIO River. Eight cross cuts are
being built to connect the water and
railroad tunnels.
Coal Deposits Extensive.
which will be opened by the tunnel.
has enough coal, biologists say, to sup.
ply the United States for 1,500 years.
1t has oil shale beds Of stupendous
proportions. There are almost equal
undeveloped resources in northeastern
Utah.
The railroad bore of the project.
fully enlarged. 52 per cent fin
ished, while the water tunnel and the
main heading Of the railroad bore are
79 per cent built.
Last year Carter Lake, a reputed
bottomless body OF water, 800 feet
above the workmen in the tunnel,
emptied its waters into the passage
The lake was drained and has been
forever eliminated as a menace to the
tunnel, the builders say. Among the
workmen, numbering nearly 1.000 five
lives have been lost since the
inception.
The Denver and Salt Lake Railroad
will run through the tunnel. From
the town of Tabernash, three miles
from the east portal. it has required
trains Of the line IA to IS hours to
make the roundabout course to Den
yer. 80 miles away. It has taken four
engines to haul a train of % freight
cars over the divide. When the tun.
mel is completed this Summer, one To-
comotive will haul a train Of "a cars
from Tabernash to Denver in less
than half the time.
Another Railroad Extension.
It Is proposed to extend the Denver
and Salt Lake Railroad. also known as
the Moffat Road, through the tunnel
and continue its line westward from
Craig to Salt Lake City. Thus a new
transcontinental route will be
provided. Centers like Denver will
be brought 173 miles closer to the
Pacific Coast.
Twenty-Five years ago David H. Mof-
fat planned to build the Denver and
lot alr potl
riers of rock and gorge dividing Colo
RADIO and Utah. Moffat died in New
York in 1911, while he was trying to
finance the extension Of the railroad
Others who had faith in the project
carried on his work.
On November 2. 1920, the plan of
building the tunnel, together with two
other great bores south of the Moffat,
was submitted to the voters of Colo
rado. They rejected 1t, principally