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Show to t fee Progress Devoted VOL. L . (; ks. Tunnel Under t & Development of Agriculture in fie Uintal? Basin Qi-e-&t VERNAL, UINTAH COUNTY, UTAH, MARCH, 1924. Roof--O -- NO. 3. World Will Enrich Nation and Uintah Basin Construction work on the Salt Lake and Denver, railroad started last week and the promise of its being finished for the first train thru the Moffat tunnel, farmers of the Uintah Basin can rest assured of prosperity in the future surpassing any other section in the United States. Where can one go that so rich a virgin section, intensely cultivated and rich in agricultural resources, is a new country and only awaits the coming of a railroad to take its products to markets now established? It means the Basin farmer is coming to his own, when within only a few years it will take more wealth than we now produce to alone feed and clothe the population cf the Basin. Ever smce the days of David H. other railway men have cherished the ambition to penetrate the migniy barrier of the Rockies with, a tunael that would bring eastward the riches lying on the western side of the Continental Divide, and now this vision is about to be realized, groups of busy workmen being engaged on the great engineering project. To appreciate the magnitude of the task, it- is necessary to realize some of the difficulties of operating trains over the present route by way of the storm-sweRollins Pass. At the summit is Corona, 11,600 feet above sea level. For two miles snow sheds stretch out protecting roofs, doing their best to make it possible to run trains during the winter in Cloudland. Trainmen must figh't every inch of the way to reach these snowy heights, and after a brief rest they must wage another equally bitter battle to take the train safely down the treacherous grades and around the tricky To surmount the grades, Curves. four and five Mallett engines, built especially for mountain work, are needed to pull a single train. And yet it requires nearly fourteen hours to cover one ninety-mil- e stretch of road. When the six mile tunnel is finished, in about 3 years, twenty-thre- e miles will be cut from the present distance, resulting in a tremendous saving in time and operating costs On the eastern slope, the bore begins about three miles above Tolland at an elevation of 9,198 feet, and It will therefore be far enough below timbe" line so the tracks will be protected from huge snowdrifts. The western portal will be 113 feet The tube is to have a peak lower. or high point, In the center so it The plan is to will drain readily. drive the work from both slopes, water tunnel, using ap eight-folocated at a distance of seventy-fiv- e feet from the transportation tube. By means of cross cuts, communication will be established between the two. When completed, Fires will be it will be electrified. Moffat, - pt ot lanked in the steam locomotives be- fore they enter, to simply the problem of ventilation. Suction fans also will be installed. Although Moffat did not live to see his dream of opening up a new commercial empire realized, tho tunnel will stand as a monument to his vision. Geologists declare northwestern Colorado alone has sufficicoal to supply the ent high-grad- e entire United States for 1500 years; and its' shale beds will produce much more oil than has yet been taken from the wells of the United States. The further claim is made that enough ammonium sulphate can be produced as a to fertilize all the farms of the Mississippi basin. Also, there are In this district 3,900,000 acres of vacant public land open to entry, and 353,000 acres of state school lands. When the tunnel is completed, it will tap these treasures and bring them to the doorways of the nation both in east and west. (Courtesy Popular Mechanics) by-prod- |