Moffat Tunnel

Moffat Tunnel

The western entrance to the tunnel
Overview
Location	Colorado, US
System	Union Pacific Railroad
Crosses	Continental Divide
Operation
Opened	February 1928
Owner	State of Colorado
Operator	Union Pacific
Technical
Length	6.2 miles (10.0 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Highest elevation	9,239 feet (2,816 m) above sea level
Tunnel clearance	24 feet (7.3 m)
Width	18 feet (5.5 m)
Grade	1 in 125 (0.8%)
Route map
v t e Legend New Route Old Route (after 1928)   Winter Park Resort Forrest and Morgan Spurs Moffat Tunnel Ranch Creek Wye elev. 9,239 ft (2,816 m)   rail tunnel Rifle Sight Notch Tunnel Tunnel 33 water tunnel Rollins Pass Continental Divide elev. 11,677 ft (3,559 m)   Needle's Eye Tunnel Tunnel 32 Spruce Wye Boulder Creek Tunnel 31 to Denver

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.^[1] 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.^[2]