posted
I read On Train Web President Coolidge officially opened the parallel "holed" Pioneer tunnel in 1926 next to the Moffat Tunnel. Was this just a test bore? or now a unused tunnel?
Posts: 193 | From: illinois | Registered: Jan 2004
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Don't know if this is what you are referring to, but there is a small water tunnel next to the railroad tunnel. Water gets pumped through from the west to the east.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that actually opened before the railroad tunnel.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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The Moffat Tunnel was built for the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad by the City of Denver. It was funded by a bond issue. There were two reasons for the city funding. First, the city wanted a direct rail route to the west (rather than having to send cars via either Pueblo or Cheyenne). Second, they wanted to bring drinking water across the Continental Divide. So yes, the pioneer tunnel is a water tunnel and was opened before the Moffat Tunnel.
When D&SL went bankrupt during the Depression, the City of Denver engineered its sale to the Rio Grande following DRGW's commitment to build the 40-mile connection from the Tennessee Pass line, thus getting the city its direct route to the west.
Posts: 614 | From: Merchantville, NJ. USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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