The Moffat Tunnel is a railroad and water tunnel that cuts through the Continental Divide in north-central Colorado. Named after Colorado railroad pioneer David Moffat, the tunnel's first official railroad traffic passed through in February 1928. The Moffat Tunnel finally provided Denver with a western link through the Continental Divide, as both Cheyenne, Wyoming, to the north and Pueblo to the south already enjoyed rail access to the West Coast. It follows the right-of-way laid out by Moffat in 1902 while he was seeking a better and shorter route from Denver to Salt Lake City. The Moffat Tunnel averages 15 trains per day. The railroad and water tunnels parallel one another; the water tunnel delivers a portion of Denver's water supply. In 1979, the tunnel was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Overview
The eastern portal is about 50 miles (80 km) west of Denver in the Front Range, about 10 miles (16 km) west of the town of Rollinsville. The West Portal is located at the base area of Winter Park Resort, above and east of the Dotsero Cutoff that leads west towards Salt Lake City. The railroad tunnel is 24 feet (7.3 m) high, 18 feet (5.5 m) wide, and 6.2 miles (10.0 km) long. The apex of the tunnel is at 9,239 feet (2,816 m) above sea level. The tunnel has a gradient of 1 in 125 (0.8%). As of 1989, the Moffat was the fourth-longest railroad tunnel in North America. It was the longest non-electrified tunnel until 1956, when electrification was removed from the Cascade Tunnel. The tunnel is single-tracked, so only one train is run through at a time, usually with eastbound and westbound trains alternating. For safety reasons, passengers are asked not to move from one car to another while the train is in the tunnel. Moffat Tunnel is owned by the State of Colorado. It was initially operated by Union Pacific (UP) under a 99-year lease agreement. The use fee was $12,000 per year and was set to expire on January 6, 2025. In late 2024, Colorado and UP negotiated a new lease for the tunnel with a 25-year term, to be initiated on May 1, 2025. Provisions of the new lease forwent a monetary payment from UP in exchange for the right for the state to operate new passenger services over the line. Although its primary purpose today is as a rail route for coal and freight, and as a water tunnel from the Pacific watershed to the Denver area, it also sees use by Amtrak's California Zephyr and Winter Park Express. The tunnel's apex elevation of 9,239 feet (2,816 m) is the highest point on the Amtrak network. Since August 15, 2021, the Rocky Mountaineer tourist train operator has used the tunnel on its "Rockies to the Red Rocks" route between Denver and Moab with an overnight stop in Glenwood Springs.
Ventilation system The tunnel is ventilated by massive fans operating after a train has exited the tunnel. The portals have doors which are shut before the fans are activated. Originally, trains would have to wait some 20–30 minutes before proceeding into the tunnel after the doors were re-opened. Today, a sensor system is employed to evaluate the clearance of diesel exhaust, which today can be less than 20 minutes for lighter trains.
History
The tunnel was conceived by David Moffat of the Denver, Northwestern, and Pacific (DNW&P) railroad as early as 1902. The original DNW&P tracks climbed Rollins Pass with a series of switchback loops with a steep 4% grade and severe snow conditions. Snow removal on the original line made it unprofitable to operate. Moffat was unable to raise sufficient funds to build the tunnel before he died in 1911, but the forces behind the tunnel continued, and in 1914 a Denver bond issue was approved, financing two thirds of the construction cost of the tunnel. The issue was defeated in a court decision which ruled that Denver did not have the constitutional right to enter into a joint venture to construct the tunnel with a private corporation. In 1920, a bill was introduced in the state legislature to build three tunnels under Monarch Pass, Cumbres Pass, and Rollins Pass (the Moffat Route). The various regions of the state could not come to agreement, partly because the southern and southwestern regions feared that Denver would gain a new advantage in commerce from the Moffat Route. Blocking this legislation would ultimately backfire when Denver was finally able to secure financing for its tunnel.
In early 1922, Denver's lawmakers in the state legislature found an opening. Pueblo had been devastated by a flood, and Gov. Oliver Henry Shoup called an emergency session of the legislature. Denver lawmakers now had power over Pueblo. They would vote for emergency funding for the beleaguered town (an economic rival to Denver) in return for legislation authorizing the issuance of bonds for Denver's tunnel. A deal was struck, and on April 29, the Moffat Tunnel Improvement District was created.
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