Break on Through (To the Other Side)
Here we see engine streamlined 4-8-2 "Mountain"-type 6847 roaring through the eastern end of the Raindance Ridge Tunnel sometime in the early 1960's.
This tunnel was a bottleneck for traffic for many years, but land ownership issues concerning the Native American tribe who originally owned the land on which it sits caused many issues. The land was apparently never sold to the railroads but was stolen and the law requires all railroad land not proved to be owned by said railroad goes back to the previous owner: the Native American tribe.
So, after a decade of legal wrangling, the tunnel was sold to the railroad for a quite large sum of money in 1975. This allowed the second tunnel to be built for eastern traffic about a half mile downstream of the original 1880 alignment, with the original tunnel is used only for West bound trains.
Break on Through (To the Other Side)
Here we see engine streamlined 4-8-2 "Mountain"-type 6847 roaring through the eastern end of the Raindance Ridge Tunnel sometime in the early 1960's.
This tunnel was a bottleneck for traffic for many years, but land ownership issues concerning the Native American tribe who originally owned the land on which it sits caused many issues. The land was apparently never sold to the railroads but was stolen and the law requires all railroad land not proved to be owned by said railroad goes back to the previous owner: the Native American tribe.
So, after a decade of legal wrangling, the tunnel was sold to the railroad for a quite large sum of money in 1975. This allowed the second tunnel to be built for eastern traffic about a half mile downstream of the original 1880 alignment, with the original tunnel is used only for West bound trains.