![]() ![]() From town, head south on Hwy 119/CO-72 and then turn right onto Eldora Road, take a slight left onto Eldorado Avenue and then continue straight onto Hessie Road. Hessie Trailhead, a popular destination right outside of Nederland, offers several different hikes. Nederland is home to an endless amount of great hiking trails-many that end at crystal-clear, cold and beautiful mountain lakes. Try New Moon Bakery, Salto Coffee Works, or one of the others that you can find in town and grab a pastry or breakfast sandwich and enjoy sitting at their patios in the morning sunshine. Pick up coffee and breakfast at one of the town’s many coffee shops. Sunset over Nederland from Barker dam just outside of town. If you happen to be visiting during the fall, you’ll get to see a spectacular display of fall foliage in the mountains. It’s about 41 miles to Nederland and takes around an hour, but you will not be disappointed. On your way down to Nederland, take the Peak-to-Peak Scenic byway for stunning views.įrom Estes Park, take Hwy 7 and then a right on Hwy 72 to Nederland. However, today Ned is known as a quirky town with plenty to do-the perfect place for a day trip from Rocky Mountain National Park. Nicknamed “Ned.” The town has a long and rich history as a mining settlement since its beginnings in the 1800s. ![]() ![]() Today, the line is no longer at capacity and most trains do not have to wait before entering.Forty miles south of Estes Park along the Peak to Peak scenic byway, sits the small mountain town of Nederland, Colo. This resulted in a bottleneck as the tunnel needed 20-25 minutes to purge the diesel exhaust before the next train could enter. Today, the ventilation system is entirely computer controlled and monitors the particulate level within the tunnel once this has fallen below the threshold Union Pacific has set, a train is cleared to enter.ĭuring peak coal traffic through the early 2010's, upwards of 24-28 trains passed through Moffat Tunnel each day. These doors are connected to a circuit which is connected to the track and once a train trips such (roughly 8 seconds before it reaches the east or west portal) the door will open. The Moffat Tunnel utilizes a system whereby canvas doors are kept closed to keep fresh air circulated throughout the bore. Railroad tunnels that are several thousand feet in length require ventilation to both prevent asphyxiation by crew members/passengers as well as provide clean air to a diesel engine's intake. What was complete of the D&SL was only completed between Denver and Craig, Colorado (a distance of just over 200-miles, and less than half way to Salt Lake City) using a route that went over the Rocky Mountains at Rollins Pass topping out at over 4% along many stretches of the 23-miles of railroad it took to cross the pass. While Moffat spent all of his fortune trying to complete a tortuously steep route between the two cities he neither connected the two before his death in 1911 nor before his railroad fell into bankruptcy. His hope initially with the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific was toĬonnect a low-grade "Air Line" to Salt Lake City, as requested by theĪs mentioned before, with the resulting bankruptcies the project proved to much more difficult than anticipated. Had holdings and interests in numerous railroad projects over the years,Īll of which were located in or around the state of Colorado. Rio Grande GP40-2 #3115 leads the eastbound "Ski Train" out of the east portal of Moffat Tunnel on March 30, 1974. The massive project was carried out by David Moffat's Denver & Salt Lake Railway, which dated back as the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway of 1902 (the DNW&P fell into bankruptcy in 1912 and was first renamed the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad and later became the Denver & Salt Lake Railway). The Moffat Tunnel was actually not built by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. Today, ownedīy the Union Pacific, the tunnel remains an important artery in moving freight. Locomotives just to get a single train over the mountain. Grades that topped out over 4% in many places requiring numerous Salt Lake City while passing through the Continental Divide.Ĭut out many miles of superfluous trackage but also steep The tunnel, sitting at an elevation of 9,200 feet, was intended to be a link between Denver and The Denver & Rio Grande Western's Moffat Tunnel was actually the vision ofīusinessman and railroad entrepreneur David Moffat as early as the turn ![]()
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