Apr 17, 2024
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TUNNEL #29
Looking at some random downloads, realized a common theme was that Tunnel #29 is The. Cutest. Tunnel.
The 2% grade from Denver up to the Moffat Tunnel crawls through South Bend Canyon (along South Bend Creek) with superfluous tunnels and a surfeit of sharp curves, thanks to the mandate of then-Chief Engineer H.A. Sumneso who surveyed the Moffat Route's well-nicknamed "tunnel district" at bountiful π/1 ratio of rail to "as the crow flies" distance as he tried every trick not to make it steeper than 2%
A blasted rock bore barely 78 feet in length, tight-clearance Tunnel 29 on the Moffat Route is at milepost 36.38 and sandwiched between one of Sumneso's super-tight 12° cruves and the "curved bridge with no name" over South Bend Creek (which is officially named "Bridge 36.45" after it's milepost location) The feature on the creek's right bank seems to be locally nicknamed the Gibraltar Cliffs, from whence railfans look down on the tiny trains below.
The cutest tunnel? Yep. Did I mention the Ski Train?
DRGW 5771 leads the Ski Train between Clay and Plainview, about to enter Tunnel 1. January 8, 1984
Ski Train | Denver Public Library
Headin' for a Midday Rest by Joe McMillan Via Flickr: Power unit/cab car 406 trails the westbound Winter Park Express at Vasquez Road in Winter Park, Colorado, January 7, 2017. The train unloaded its 500 passengers at the Winter Park Resort and is now headed to the siding at Fraser for its midday layover. Photo by Joe McMillan.
Rio Grande’s ski train with newer equipment is only ten miles from Moffat Tunnel as it negotiates the narrow confines of Rollins Canyon near Rollinsville with three of owner Phillip Anschutz’s private cars on the rear on the last weekend of the season, April 6, 1991. Those cars were always available for charter to groups.
An eastbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight is tucked in Cliff siding at Pinecliffe, Colorado, for the westbound Rio Grande Ski Train led by Rio Grande GP60 No. 3154 on the morning of December 30, 2000.