Show Boring the Longest Tunnel in America T T will wUl not be long before the tho IT fa j aI a- a I Hoosac Tunnel runnel four and and quarters three tulles miles long will have haTe to surrender Its premier place held for many decades decade as the tho longest bore boro on the thU Continent The Rogers Pass lass mlle mile tunnel under the tho SelkIrk Range on tho the Canadian Pacific Railway will bo be completed by bythe bythe the Jpe c end d of 1916 This gigantic hole through tho the livIng living living liv liv- ing rock will cost and only shortens tho the route by four tour miles mUes However It il will materIally reduce tho the grade grado which Js a difficult one at that hat lofty point on the backbone of or the Continent and obviate many delays hitherto due to snow sno falls fails and ava ava- va- va lanches The Canadian Pacific Railway engineers engineers engineers en en- sI spent en two years seeking a location for a tunnel through the Sel- Sel kirks final finally y deciding upon Rogers Pass which crosses the range In the nf n n vt Qt by rugged snow-capped snow mountains Of ot tho the many I peaks which form a seemingly impossible barrier between the prairie country to the east and tho the Pacific Coast Mount Sir Donald forms the tho culminating pinnacle its is altitude being feet Mount Macdonald Macdona d which is Js feet in hei height ht also looms out prominently with rugged I and precipitous slopes The Beaver Deaver Valley lies cast of tho the Selkirk Range and tho Valley to the west On tho the trip westward westward west west- ward vard through the pass trains start the ascent of oC th tho at Beavermouth Beavermouth Beaver Beaver- mouth 23 28 miles west vest of oC Golden at an altitude of 2435 feet and the tho most northerly station on tho the route Before reaching the road crosses the Columbia River at nt atthe tho the base baso of at tho the which in contrast to the arc are covered with forests The line enters the Sel Set kirks through the Gate Gato of tho the Beaver River a picturesque spot where a n natu nat- nat u ft a a hl at that point makes its Us final plunge down to the level of tho the Columbia I The Tho tunnel which is 29 feet wide and 23 feet high follows a straight I lino line under Mount Macdonald emerging ing In t the tho e Beaver Deaver Valley Vaney at a point about 1000 feet teet below tho the present line The eastern entrance is Js directly below Hermit a station Just east cast of oC Rogers Pass Tho The highest point reached in tho the tunnel is feet above sea level Jevel and feet below the summit of oC Macdonald l Peak The passage nas through the tho mountains will have a grade of ono one per cent cont up to tho the Interior summit The Tho pioneer bore boro is Is a new method of tunnel boring being employed em em- on th Rogers Pass project A i. small preliminary shaft 7 by 9 feet teet paralleling tho the course of oC the tho mal main tunnel 50 feet teet distant furnishes ventilation ventilation ven yen for the tho main shaft and anel by means of at ross cross sections affords a means of ot disposing of the excava- excava during u progress of tho work I |