The Giant's Ladder : David H Moffat and His Railroad

Descripción

224 pages b/w photos - telling the story of the Denver Northwestern & Pacific railroad and its construction. David H. Moffat and his business associates established the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway. It originated in Denver, and was planned to terminate in Salt Lake City, Utah. Construction began on December 18, 1902. The DN&P started north up the Front Range of the Rockies towards Boulder. This ascent to the point where the line turned west, is a great example of exceptional mountain railroad surveying. Chief Engineer H.A. Sumner needing to enter South Boulder Canyon as high as possible, did not want more than a 2% grade. To do this, he laid out a highly efficient route to gain the necessary altitude that features the now famous Big Ten Curve. The climb to the Continental Divide required 33 tunnels that were several hundred feet long. The tracks did not reach the western end of the Tolland area until 1903. Once completed, the 33 tunnels between Denver and Tolland are closer together than any other tunnels on any other line in the United States. Rollins Pass was next over the divide at Corona, at an elevation 11,680 feet (3,560 m), and then the line went down the western face of the divide. Originally, Moffat had planned to build a tunnel through the worst part of the pass, but his original plans failed. Instead, the DNW&P tracks climbed Rollins Pass with a series of switch back loops requiring steep grades and experiencing severe snow conditions. The line over the pass was 23 miles (37 km) long, with a 4% grade along many stretches, and was the highest railroad ever constructed in North America. A small rail stop called Corona was established at the top of the pass, with a restaurant and lodging, which allowed workers to help keep the rail line free of snow in the winter. Trains were often stranded for several days during heavy winter snows. Removing snow from the original line went on to make it unprofitable to operate. The line was complete all the way to Arrow by the winter of 1904. In the spring of 1905, the tracks were completed all the way to Fraser. From there, the tracks went through Tabernash, Granby, Hot Sulphur Springs, Byers Canyon, and then Parshall, which is at the mouth of Williams Fork canyon. The town of Kremmling, Colorado was finally reached in July 1906. The tracks then went West through the Gore Canyon past Radium, finally connecting at State Bridge to North-South tracks. These tracks did not reach Steamboat Springs until the winter of 1909. Moffat died on March 18, 1911 in New York City at the age of seventy three. The DN&P had cost him $75,000 a mile, and Rollins Pass had cost him the rest of his fortune, a total of fourteen million dollars. He was in New York City trying to raise more money for the railroad, and was stopped by what would later be learned was the doing of E. H. Harriman and George Jay Gould I. DNW&P was placed in receivership on May 2, 1912, and on April 30, 1913 was reformed as the Denver and Salt Lake Railroad, though it went bankrupt before reaching Salt Lake City. By 1913 the tracks through Steamboat Springs had reached Craig in Moffat County, Although Moffat was looked at the time as a vain dreamer, he would later be looked at by many as ahead of his time. His legacy would leave Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and later Union Pacific with a railroad that would outlast most other rail lines in Colorado. Other than the Rollins Pass part all of the railroad is still in use today by Union Pacific, and the Denver to Phippsburg part is called Moffat Tunnel Subdivision. N° de ref. del artículo UB-014005

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