A Man Built a Railroad Over the Top of a Mountain Because He Could Not Afford to Dig Through It

There is a road in Colorado that climbs to eleven thousand six hundred and sixty feet, crosses the Continental Divide above the treeline, and was never built to be a road. It is a railroad grade. You can tell because it does not behave like anything a road engineer would draw. The curves are too long and too gentle for the terrain, the climb is relentless and never steep, and every so often it cuts through solid rock in a slot exactly wide enough for one train. There are thirty three of those cuts and tunnels on it. There are trestles still standing. In places there are ties left in the ground, and planking from the sheds that used to keep the snow off. IF YOU ARE GOING UP THERE As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Colorado Atlas and Gazetteer (DeLorme) https://amzn.to/4dlwd04 Rechargeable handheld spotlight, for the cuts and tunnels https://amzn.to/4xGGzzZ LOCATIONS IN THIS VIDEO Rollins Pass summit, site of Corona: 39.9339, -105.6842 Needle's Eye Tunnel: 39.9186, -105.6597 Devil's Slide trestles: 39.9264, -105.6739 Moffat Tunnel east portal: 39.9021, -105.6462 Moffat Tunnel west portal, Winter Park: 39.8874, -105.7614 Access: the grade is reached from Rollinsville on the east side and from Winter Park on the west. The through route across the summit has been closed since a rockfall at the Needle's Eye. Both sides are rough four wheel drive roads, open only in summer, and you will reach a barrier below the crest and continue on foot. There are no services and the weather at that altitude changes fast. SOURCES Denver Public Library, Western History Collection Colorado Encyclopedia, Moffat Road and Moffat Tunnel Preserve Rollins Pass, technical records United States Forest Service, Rollins Pass auto tour materials Interstate Commerce Commission, abandonment records, 1935 Old Alignment covers the roads and railroads America stopped using and what is left of them. #RollinsPass #Colorado #MoffatTunnel