Moffat
Tunnel

The Moffat Tunnel was cut under a shoulder of James Peak, 50 miles west of Denver, for the purpose of eliminating heavy railroad grades over the Continental Divide and shortening railroad distances. It is a public improvement constructed by the Moffat Tunnel Improvement District, created by the state legislature on April 29, 1923. It was named in honor of David H. Moffat, a pioneer banker and railroad builder, to whom is given the credit for having originated the undertaking. The cost of the tunnel was approximately $18,000,000, of which the major part was defrayed by the proceeds of four bond issues totaling $15,470,000, and the remainder from profits from concessions. The tunnel is 6.4 miles long, 24 feet in height, and 18 feet in width. A pioneer tunnel bored parallel with the main tunnel to facilitate the work is eight feet high and eight feet wide. The pioneer tunnel was officially 'holed' through on February 18, 1926, the blast of dynamite being set off by President Coolidge upon pressing a key in Washington, and the program being broadcast to the country by radio from the heart of the mountain. This tunnel is under lease to the City of Denver, which operates it as a trans-mountain diversion project that transports water through to the eastern slope of the range. The railroad tunnel was 'holed' through on July 7, 1927, and formally turned over completed to the lessee on February 26, 1928. The railway tunnel has been leased to the Denver & Salt Lake Railway Company for 50 years. Railroad connections through the tunnel shortened the distance between Denver and the Pacific coast by 176 miles. The project involved the excavation of 750,000 cubic yards, or 3,000,000,000 pounds of rock, equal to 1,600 freight trains of 40 cars each; 2,500,000 pounds of dynamite discharged; 700 miles of drill holes; 11,000,000 F. B. M. timber, equivalent to more that 2,000 miles of 1 by 12 inch plank; and the use of 28,000,000 K. W. H. electric power."

Ingram, Tolbert R. ed., Yearbook of the State of Colorado 1939-1940. Denver: The Bradford Robinson Ftg. Co. & Colorado State Planning Commission, 1940, 441-442.