Trashed
Rollins Pass as a railroad line
In the early 20th century, David Moffat, a Denver banker, established the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway with the intention of building a railroad over the Front Range in the vicinity of the pass. The line was known as the Moffat Road, ran 23 miles over the pass, with a 4% grade along many stretches, and was one of the highest adhesion (non-cog) railroads ever constructed in North America. Along this route is the closed Needles Eye Tunnel (not to be confused with lower and longer Moffat Tunnel constructed some 30 years later). Other notable landmarks on the route included Riflesight Notch, a loop where trains crossed over a trestle, went through a loop, and passed through a tunnel underneath the trestle. 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. Despite the fact that the line was enclosed in almost continuous sheds near the top of the pass, trains were often stranded for several days during heavy winter snowstorms because the snow could fall through the wood planking of the sheds. It was these heavy snowstorms that were the demise of the Moffat Road and the incentive for construction of a tunnel. Because the route was intended to be a temporary, it was constructed as cheaply as possible - using high trestles, 4% grades and switchbacks instead of high fills, iron bridges, and tunnels. Because of the high-altitude nature of the route, the route utilized wyes instead of turntables to turn locomotives around.
Train in the snow cuts at Rollins Pass.
Much of the right-of-way is still intact, although some of the trestles have collapsed. A small wye on the passing siding at the eastern portal of the Moffat Tunnel marks the spot where the Rollins Pass line would have merged into the modern route if it still existed. This wye is currently utilized for short-turning some services.
The first attempt to tunnel under Rollins Pass met with both engineering and financial failure, and its remains can still be seen at Yankee Doodle Lake. The second attempt, to build a longer tunnel at a lower elevation, was better planned and financed. Although Moffat did not live to see his tunnel completed, his enterprise was continued under a different name, and the Moffat Tunnel opened just south of the pass on February 26, 1928. The new tunnel route became part of the mainline across Colorado of the Denver and Salt Lake Railroad, later the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, and now the Union Pacific Railroad. The Moffat Tunnel continues to serve as the route for the Amtrak California Zephyr between Chicago, Illinois and Emeryville, California, and until summer 2009, for Ski Train passengers between Denver and Winter Park.
The Rollins Pass tracks were not immediately demolished after the tunnel opened. In fact, they had to remain usable as an emergency route. It was used as such in July 1928 when several wooden planks inside the tunnel collapsed. Permission to rip up the rails on Rollins Pass was not granted by the ICC until 1935. Sometime in the seven years between when the line was abandoned and when the tracks were ripped up, a mysterious fire destroyed several of the snowsheds near the summit and the hotel at Corona.
Trashed
Rollins Pass as a railroad line
In the early 20th century, David Moffat, a Denver banker, established the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway with the intention of building a railroad over the Front Range in the vicinity of the pass. The line was known as the Moffat Road, ran 23 miles over the pass, with a 4% grade along many stretches, and was one of the highest adhesion (non-cog) railroads ever constructed in North America. Along this route is the closed Needles Eye Tunnel (not to be confused with lower and longer Moffat Tunnel constructed some 30 years later). Other notable landmarks on the route included Riflesight Notch, a loop where trains crossed over a trestle, went through a loop, and passed through a tunnel underneath the trestle. 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. Despite the fact that the line was enclosed in almost continuous sheds near the top of the pass, trains were often stranded for several days during heavy winter snowstorms because the snow could fall through the wood planking of the sheds. It was these heavy snowstorms that were the demise of the Moffat Road and the incentive for construction of a tunnel. Because the route was intended to be a temporary, it was constructed as cheaply as possible - using high trestles, 4% grades and switchbacks instead of high fills, iron bridges, and tunnels. Because of the high-altitude nature of the route, the route utilized wyes instead of turntables to turn locomotives around.
Train in the snow cuts at Rollins Pass.
Much of the right-of-way is still intact, although some of the trestles have collapsed. A small wye on the passing siding at the eastern portal of the Moffat Tunnel marks the spot where the Rollins Pass line would have merged into the modern route if it still existed. This wye is currently utilized for short-turning some services.
The first attempt to tunnel under Rollins Pass met with both engineering and financial failure, and its remains can still be seen at Yankee Doodle Lake. The second attempt, to build a longer tunnel at a lower elevation, was better planned and financed. Although Moffat did not live to see his tunnel completed, his enterprise was continued under a different name, and the Moffat Tunnel opened just south of the pass on February 26, 1928. The new tunnel route became part of the mainline across Colorado of the Denver and Salt Lake Railroad, later the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, and now the Union Pacific Railroad. The Moffat Tunnel continues to serve as the route for the Amtrak California Zephyr between Chicago, Illinois and Emeryville, California, and until summer 2009, for Ski Train passengers between Denver and Winter Park.
The Rollins Pass tracks were not immediately demolished after the tunnel opened. In fact, they had to remain usable as an emergency route. It was used as such in July 1928 when several wooden planks inside the tunnel collapsed. Permission to rip up the rails on Rollins Pass was not granted by the ICC until 1935. Sometime in the seven years between when the line was abandoned and when the tracks were ripped up, a mysterious fire destroyed several of the snowsheds near the summit and the hotel at Corona.