Sara Sandstrom-Kobi, Gilpin County. Trains fascinate young and old alike. Some of the first words my children said were “train” and “no train.” Every day they would say this as we drove through Rollinsville. Sometimes we would turn off the highway and follow the tracks west as far as we could. A few miles west of Rollinsville stands one of the great American railroad accomplishments of the 20th century. We, like so many in the last 91 years, were always hoping to be lucky enough to see a train going into or out of the Moffat Tunnel.

David Halliday Moffat, Jr. was born in New York in 1839. As a young man, he slowly worked his way west and eventually settled in Denver. He made his fortune in banking and mining. Moffat got involved in the railroad scene and was determined to build a track to connect Denver and Salt Lake City. This was done in the name of progress, development and advancement. 

The Union Pacific had bypassed Denver to make the Transcontinental Railroad. It was thought to be impractical to have a railroad go west out of Denver. They chose the easier grades of southern Wyoming and southern Colorado. David Moffat wanted to prove them otherwise. 

Moffat first had the Moffat Road built over Rollins Pass. This was a spectacular route with amazing views at 11,660 feet above sea level. It was also extremely expensive to maintain the route. Despite the best machines of the time and the tireless efforts of the railroad crew, Rollins Pass could be impassable for weeks in the winter. They had to find another way.

Moffat never gave up on his dream to put a train track through the Continental Divide. Sadly, David Moffat died in 1911 and never saw his dream fulfilled. His associates kept the vision alive. 

Finding financial backing to build the tunnel was a huge obstacle. There were people who did not want to see a railroad built west of Denver. People who made money with the southern Wyoming route and the southern Colorado route did all they could to stop Moffat’s dream. 

World War I and a devastating flood in Pueblo, Colorado, helped break the stalemate. Transporting coal and oil from northwestern Colorado on the Moffat Road became vitally important to the war effort. People started to be convinced that a faster route was needed. Then, in 1921, a horrific flood destroyed much of the city of Pueblo. Another railroad route for transportation needs in Colorado was necessary. 

After years of dispute and failure, in 1922, the Colorado Legislature passed a bill to financially support the building of the Moffat Tunnel. The City of Denver also gave financial support. Denver had a very specific interest with the building of the tunnel. The pioneer bore would eventually be an aqueduct and bring water from the Western Slope to the growing city. Hitchcock and Tinkler, Inc. were awarded the contract to build the Moffat Tunnel. The work started in 1923.

Small towns were established at the West Portal in Grand County and the East Portal in Gilpin County to house the workers and their families during construction. The pay was good. Work was around the clock and dangerous. Unstable rock was found on the west side of James Peak. The east side dealt with too much water. 

New technology was invented to meet the needs of the tunnel construction. George Lewis developed the Lewis Traveling Cantilever Girder. Lewis was a mining engineer and the general manager of this huge project. This device supported the walls and roof when the tunnel was being enlarged. It is hard to know how many lives were saved with this major engineering development. 

The project took longer than expected and costs soared. The railroad tunnel was holed through in July 1927. The first train traveled through the 6.2-mile tunnel in February 1928. In the end, the Moffat Tunnel cost almost $24 million. Even more costly was the death of 28 workers during the construction. 

Trains have continued to ride the rails through James Peak since 1928. A large ventilation system was added to the East Portal early on. Houses were also built at the East Portal to house railroad workers and their families. Robert Ornelas lived with his eight siblings and parents at the East Portal for many years starting in the mid-1950s. His father, Nick Ornelas, was a section foreman and was responsible for maintaining the track from Winter Park through the tunnel to Pinecliff. The Ornelas family is just one of the many families that worked on the railroad and became a part of the Rollinsville/Nederland community. 

The houses at the East Portal now stand empty and the harsh weather slowly deteriorates them. They are pieces of Colorado railroad history that still watch freight trains, and occasionally an Amtrak passenger train, making their way through the Moffat Tunnel. This tunnel was a dream of one man who wanted Denver to have a bigger role on the railroad routes going to the west coast. And what an accomplishment it was. 

So, the next time you drive through Rollinsville and your children say, “Look, a train!” Tell them who had a dream to build a tunnel through James Peak. Take them to see the Moffat Tunnel and tell them how hard people worked to build this engineering marvel. You might be lucky enough to see the big door open and experience a massive freight train bolting out of the tunnel or one slowly making its way west through the Continental Divide. 

(Originally published in the June 20, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)