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97-605: 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

194-408: A crank on a driving axle. Steam locomotives have been phased out in most parts of the world for economical and safety reasons, although many are preserved in working order by heritage railways . Electric locomotives draw power from a stationary source via an overhead wire or third rail . Some also or instead use a battery . In locomotives that are powered by high-voltage alternating current ,

291-586: A dining car . Some lines also provide over-night services with sleeping cars . Some long-haul trains have been given a specific name . Regional trains are medium distance trains that connect cities with outlying, surrounding areas, or provide a regional service, making more stops and having lower speeds. Commuter trains serve suburbs of urban areas, providing a daily commuting service. Airport rail links provide quick access from city centres to airports . High-speed rail are special inter-city trains that operate at much higher speeds than conventional railways,

388-731: A fourth rail system in 1890 on the City and South London Railway , now part of the London Underground Northern line . This was the first major railway to use electric traction . The world's first deep-level electric railway, it runs from the City of London , under the River Thames , to Stockwell in south London. The first practical AC electric locomotive was designed by Charles Brown , then working for Oerlikon , Zürich. In 1891, Brown had demonstrated long-distance power transmission, using three-phase AC , between

485-542: A funicular railway at the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Austria. The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope and was operated by human or animal power, through a treadwheel . The line is still operational, although in updated form and is possibly the oldest operational railway. Wagonways (or tramways ) using wooden rails, hauled by horses, started appearing in the 1550s to facilitate

582-492: A hydro-electric plant at Lauffen am Neckar and Frankfurt am Main West, a distance of 280 km (170 mi). Using experience he had gained while working for Jean Heilmann on steam–electric locomotive designs, Brown observed that three-phase motors had a higher power-to-weight ratio than DC motors and, because of the absence of a commutator , were simpler to manufacture and maintain. However, they were much larger than

679-431: A steam engine that provides adhesion. Coal , petroleum , or wood is burned in a firebox , boiling water in the boiler to create pressurized steam. The steam travels through the smokebox before leaving via the chimney or smoke stack. In the process, it powers a piston that transmits power directly through a connecting rod (US: main rod) and a crankpin (US: wristpin) on the driving wheel (US main driver) or to

776-469: A transformer in the locomotive converts the high-voltage low-current power to low-voltage high current used in the traction motors that power the wheels. Modern locomotives may use three-phase AC induction motors or direct current motors. Under certain conditions, electric locomotives are the most powerful traction. They are also the cheapest to run and provide less noise and no local air pollution. However, they require high capital investments both for

873-533: A Gilpin County local historic landmark. On June 13, 2023, the designation of the East Portal Camp Cabins was unanimously approved for local landmark designation, by a vote of 3–0. Rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport ) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks , which usually consist of two parallel steel rails . Rail transport

970-550: A diesel locomotive from the company in 1909. The world's first diesel-powered locomotive was operated in the summer of 1912 on the Winterthur–Romanshorn railway in Switzerland, but was not a commercial success. The locomotive weight was 95 tonnes and the power was 883 kW with a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Small numbers of prototype diesel locomotives were produced in a number of countries through

1067-478: A double track plateway, erroneously sometimes cited as world's first public railway, in south London. William Jessop had earlier used a form of all-iron edge rail and flanged wheels successfully for an extension to the Charnwood Forest Canal at Nanpantan , Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1789. In 1790, Jessop and his partner Outram began to manufacture edge rails. Jessop became a partner in

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1164-437: A large turning radius in its design. While high-speed rail is most often designed for passenger travel, some high-speed systems also offer freight service. Since 1980, rail transport has changed dramatically, but a number of heritage railways continue to operate as part of living history to preserve and maintain old railway lines for services of tourist trains. A train is a connected series of rail vehicles that move along

1261-498: A larger locomotive named Galvani , exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Arts Exhibition in 1841. The seven-ton vehicle had two direct-drive reluctance motors , with fixed electromagnets acting on iron bars attached to a wooden cylinder on each axle, and simple commutators . It hauled a load of six tons at four miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour) for a distance of one and a half miles (2.4 kilometres). It

1358-423: A locomotive. This involves one or more powered vehicles being located at the front of the train, providing sufficient tractive force to haul the weight of the full train. This arrangement remains dominant for freight trains and is often used for passenger trains. A push–pull train has the end passenger car equipped with a driver's cab so that the engine driver can remotely control the locomotive. This allows one of

1455-512: 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

1552-430: A newly constructed pass on U.S. Route 6 crossing Colorado farther to the north was named Vail Pass . Once a large wrecking truck overturned on the icy Monarch Pass highway. At least 100 vehicles were held up by that truck. The patrolmen called for volunteers from among the delayed motorists to lift the overturned truck back onto its wheels. In less than 15 minutes, about 50 people combined their muscle power and opened

1649-477: A number of trains per hour (tph). Passenger trains can usually be into two types of operation, intercity railway and intracity transit. Whereas intercity railway involve higher speeds, longer routes, and lower frequency (usually scheduled), intracity transit involves lower speeds, shorter routes, and higher frequency (especially during peak hours). Intercity trains are long-haul trains that operate with few stops between cities. Trains typically have amenities such as

1746-676: A piece of circular rail track in Bloomsbury , London, the Catch Me Who Can , but never got beyond the experimental stage with railway locomotives, not least because his engines were too heavy for the cast-iron plateway track then in use. The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray 's rack locomotive Salamanca built for the Middleton Railway in Leeds in 1812. This twin-cylinder locomotive

1843-465: A pivotal role in the development and widespread adoption of the steam locomotive. His designs considerably improved on the work of the earlier pioneers. He built the locomotive Blücher , also a successful flanged -wheel adhesion locomotive. In 1825 he built the locomotive Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the northeast of England, which became the first public steam railway in

1940-439: A revival in recent decades due to road congestion and rising fuel prices, as well as governments investing in rail as a means of reducing CO 2 emissions . Smooth, durable road surfaces have been made for wheeled vehicles since prehistoric times. In some cases, they were narrow and in pairs to support only the wheels. That is, they were wagonways or tracks. Some had grooves or flanges or other mechanical means to keep

2037-534: A separate cast had to be made for each character. Further, on each portal are the dates: 1923 (when construction began) and 1927 (the year the tunnel was scheduled to be completed). By not changing 1927 to 1928 (the year the tunnel was actually finished and opened), this saved the commission $ 80 ($ 40 each portal) at the time (equivalent to $ 1,420 for both in 2023). The project excavated 750,000 cubic yards (570,000 m), or 3,000,000,000 pounds (1,400,000 t) of rock, equal to 1,600 freight trains of 40 cars each. During

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2134-739: A single lever to control both engine and generator in a coordinated fashion, and was the prototype for all diesel–electric locomotive control systems. In 1914, world's first functional diesel–electric railcars were produced for the Königlich-Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen ( Royal Saxon State Railways ) by Waggonfabrik Rastatt with electric equipment from Brown, Boveri & Cie and diesel engines from Swiss Sulzer AG . They were classified as DET 1 and DET 2 ( de.wiki ). The first regular used diesel–electric locomotives were switcher (shunter) locomotives . General Electric produced several small switching locomotives in

2231-407: A standard. Following SNCF's successful trials, 50 Hz, now also called industrial frequency was adopted as standard for main-lines across the world. Earliest recorded examples of an internal combustion engine for railway use included a prototype designed by William Dent Priestman . Sir William Thomson examined it in 1888 and described it as a "Priestman oil engine mounted upon a truck which

2328-432: 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

2425-632: A terminus about one-half mile (800 m) away. A funicular railway was also made at Broseley in Shropshire some time before 1604. This carried coal for James Clifford from his mines down to the River Severn to be loaded onto barges and carried to riverside towns. The Wollaton Wagonway , completed in 1604 by Huntingdon Beaumont , has sometimes erroneously been cited as the earliest British railway. It ran from Strelley to Wollaton near Nottingham . The Middleton Railway in Leeds , which

2522-408: A wheel. This was a large stationary engine , powering cotton mills and a variety of machinery; the state of boiler technology necessitated the use of low-pressure steam acting upon a vacuum in the cylinder, which required a separate condenser and an air pump . Nevertheless, as the construction of boilers improved, Watt investigated the use of high-pressure steam acting directly upon a piston, raising

2619-472: Is capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or animal power have existed since antiquity, but modern rail transport began with the invention of the steam locomotive in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 19th century. The first passenger railway,

2716-410: Is a single, self-powered car, and may be electrically propelled or powered by a diesel engine . Multiple units have a driver's cab at each end of the unit, and were developed following the ability to build electric motors and other engines small enough to fit under the coach. There are only a few freight multiple units, most of which are high-speed post trains. Steam locomotives are locomotives with

2813-399: Is dominant. Electro-diesel locomotives are built to run as diesel–electric on unelectrified sections and as electric locomotives on electrified sections. Alternative methods of motive power include magnetic levitation , horse-drawn, cable , gravity, pneumatics and gas turbine . A passenger train stops at stations where passengers may embark and disembark. The oversight of the train is

2910-477: Is one of the two primary means of land transport , next to road transport . It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed . Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains . Power is usually provided by diesel or electrical locomotives . While railway transport

3007-730: 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 . 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

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3104-556: Is worked on a temporary line of rails to show the adaptation of a petroleum engine for locomotive purposes." In 1894, a 20 hp (15 kW) two axle machine built by Priestman Brothers was used on the Hull Docks . In 1906, Rudolf Diesel , Adolf Klose and the steam and diesel engine manufacturer Gebrüder Sulzer founded Diesel-Sulzer-Klose GmbH to manufacture diesel-powered locomotives. Sulzer had been manufacturing diesel engines since 1898. The Prussian State Railways ordered

3201-656: The American Society of Civil Engineers . 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

3298-596: The City of Denver for use as a water tunnel to divert water east from the Colorado River Basin under the Continental Divide to the urban areas of the eastern slope. The pilot bore was enlarged to a diameter of 10.5 feet (3.2 m), giving it a carrying capacity of 1,280 cubic feet per second (36 m/s), and water diversion began in 1936. In 1979, the water tunnel was sold by the Moffat Tunnel Improvement District to

3395-541: The Stockton and Darlington Railway , opened in 1825. The quick spread of railways throughout Europe and North America, following the 1830 opening of the first intercity connection in England, was a key component of the Industrial Revolution . The adoption of rail transport lowered shipping costs compared to water transport, leading to "national markets" in which prices varied less from city to city. In

3492-615: The United Kingdom , South Korea , Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands. The construction of many of these lines has resulted in the dramatic decline of short-haul flights and automotive traffic between connected cities, such as the London–Paris–Brussels corridor, Madrid–Barcelona, Milan–Rome–Naples, as well as many other major lines. High-speed trains normally operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated right-of-way that incorporates

3589-414: The overhead lines and the supporting infrastructure, as well as the generating station that is needed to produce electricity. Accordingly, electric traction is used on urban systems, lines with high traffic and for high-speed rail. Diesel locomotives use a diesel engine as the prime mover . The energy transmission may be either diesel–electric , diesel-mechanical or diesel–hydraulic but diesel–electric

3686-458: The puddling process in 1784. In 1783 Cort also patented the rolling process , which was 15 times faster at consolidating and shaping iron than hammering. These processes greatly lowered the cost of producing iron and rails. The next important development in iron production was hot blast developed by James Beaumont Neilson (patented 1828), which considerably reduced the amount of coke (fuel) or charcoal needed to produce pig iron. Wrought iron

3783-418: The rotary phase converter , enabling electric locomotives to use three-phase motors whilst supplied via a single overhead wire, carrying the simple industrial frequency (50 Hz) single phase AC of the high-voltage national networks. An important contribution to the wider adoption of AC traction came from SNCF of France after World War II. The company conducted trials at AC 50 Hz, and established it as

3880-540: The 1880s, railway electrification began with tramways and rapid transit systems. Starting in the 1940s, steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives . The first high-speed railway system was introduced in Japan in 1964, and high-speed rail lines now connect many cities in Europe , East Asia , and the eastern United States . Following some decline due to competition from cars and airplanes, rail transport has had

3977-521: The 1930s (the famous " 44-tonner " switcher was introduced in 1940) Westinghouse Electric and Baldwin collaborated to build switching locomotives starting in 1929. In 1929, the Canadian National Railways became the first North American railway to use diesels in mainline service with two units, 9000 and 9001, from Westinghouse. Although steam and diesel services reaching speeds up to 200 km/h (120 mph) were started before

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4074-508: The 1960s in Europe, they were not very successful. The first electrified high-speed rail Tōkaidō Shinkansen was introduced in 1964 between Tokyo and Osaka in Japan. Since then high-speed rail transport, functioning at speeds up to and above 300 km/h (190 mph), has been built in Japan, Spain, France , Germany, Italy, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan (Republic of China),

4171-464: The 40 km Burgdorf–Thun line , Switzerland. Italian railways were the first in the world to introduce electric traction for the entire length of a main line rather than a short section. The 106 km Valtellina line was opened on 4 September 1902, designed by Kandó and a team from the Ganz works. The electrical system was three-phase at 3 kV 15 Hz. In 1918, Kandó invented and developed

4268-530: The Butterley Company in 1790. The first public edgeway (thus also first public railway) built was Lake Lock Rail Road in 1796. Although the primary purpose of the line was to carry coal, it also carried passengers. These two systems of constructing iron railways, the "L" plate-rail and the smooth edge-rail, continued to exist side by side until well into the early 19th century. The flanged wheel and edge-rail eventually proved its superiority and became

4365-514: The DC motors of the time and could not be mounted in underfloor bogies : they could only be carried within locomotive bodies. In 1894, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó developed a new type 3-phase asynchronous electric drive motors and generators for electric locomotives. Kandó's early 1894 designs were first applied in a short three-phase AC tramway in Évian-les-Bains (France), which was constructed between 1896 and 1898. In 1896, Oerlikon installed

4462-507: The Monarch Pass to traffic by putting the truck back on its wheels. The Federal Aviation Administration installed an automated weather station ( AWOS ) atop Monarch Pass, broadcasting at 124.175 MHz. It provides pilots of small aircraft access to real-time weather conditions near the summit. Aircraft accidents in the vicinity of Monarch Pass are frequent. The high terrain and frequent storms make this route difficult for light aircraft;

4559-520: 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. The district boundaries included the City and County of Denver and all or portions of the counties traversed by the Denver and Salt Lake Railway . The district had the authority to levy taxes and issue bonds backed by real estate within

4656-576: The city. Since the 1940s, the tunnel has also conveyed water for the city of Englewood . Some of the water flowing through the Moffat Tunnel to Denver actually crosses the Continental Divide three times. This water originates in the city's Williams Fork collection system, from which it passes east across the continental divide through the Gumlick Tunnel under Jones Pass , into the basin of Clear Creek . This water then flows north across

4753-750: The commission (known as the Evans Tract). In 1988, Rio Grande Industries , the company that controlled the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, purchased the Southern Pacific Railroad . The combined company took the Southern Pacific name because of its name recognition among shippers. On September 11, 1996, owner Philip Anschutz sold the combined company to the Union Pacific Railroad in response to

4850-468: 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

4947-784: The continental divide through the Vasquez Tunnel into the valley of the Fraser River before reaching the Moffat Tunnel. On January 30, 2020, the five remaining East Portal Camp Cabins (located at the East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel adjacent to Rollins Pass) were classified by Colorado Preservation as one of Colorado's Most Endangered Places. In the spring of 2023, the Gilpin County Historic Preservation Commission's Vice Chair, B. Travis Wright, nominated these cabins to become

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5044-543: The district. The Colorado Supreme Court in November 1922 upheld the constitutionality of the law creating the district and its ability to issue bonds. The bonds were sold and construction began. The bonds were fully paid off in December 1983, but the commission continued to exist until 1998. It was finally disbanded after a series of political intrigues related to Winter Park Resort , which was built partly on land owned by

5141-405: The divide until 1939 when yet another highway realignment was necessary. During the 1930s, efforts were underway to complete the newly designated U.S. Route 50 across America. In Colorado, one of the more difficult challenges was the routing of the new highway over the Continental Divide. It was clear new road would need to be constructed, but there were three competing options for where to cross

5238-484: The divide. Marshall Pass and Cochetopa Pass , both to the south and at lower elevations, were under consideration as was Monarch Pass, the more direct route between Salida and Gunnison. In September 1938, state engineer Charles Vail decided to utilize the Monarch Pass route, but with significant reconstruction and rerouting to reduce grades, minimize tight curves, and keep the roadbed up on sunny slopes where winter snow would be easier to manage. To achieve these objectives,

5335-430: The duty of a guard/train manager/conductor . Passenger trains are part of public transport and often make up the stem of the service, with buses feeding to stations. Passenger trains provide long-distance intercity travel, daily commuter trips, or local urban transit services, operating with a diversity of vehicles, operating speeds, right-of-way requirements, and service frequency. Service frequencies are often expressed as

5432-539: The earlier merger of the Burlington Northern and the Santa Fe which formed the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway . The Moffat Tunnel was cut under a shoulder of James Peak . A small pilot tunnel was bored parallel with and 75 feet (23 m) south of the main tunnel to facilitate the work and was eight feet (2.4 m) high and eight feet (2.4 m) wide. In 1925, bad rock at the west end of

5529-431: The eastern and western sides of the pass. Much of the highway over the pass is three-lane. Ten curves have a 35 MPH advisory speed and one curve has a 30 MPH advisory speed. The East Descent has a 6% grade for 10 miles. The West Descent has a 6% grade for 9 miles. Down hill from the summit, the maximum safe speed is 15 MPH for trucks with a maximum weight of 80,000 pounds. For trucks with a maximum weight of 50,000 pounds

5626-402: The end of the 19th century, because they were cleaner compared to steam-driven trams which caused smoke in city streets. In 1784 James Watt , a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, patented a design for a steam locomotive . Watt had improved the steam engine of Thomas Newcomen , hitherto used to pump water out of mines, and developed a reciprocating engine in 1769 capable of powering

5723-471: The end of the 19th century, improving the quality of steel and further reducing costs. Thus steel completely replaced the use of iron in rails, becoming standard for all railways. The first passenger horsecar or tram , Swansea and Mumbles Railway , was opened between Swansea and Mumbles in Wales in 1807. Horses remained the preferable mode for tram transport even after the arrival of steam engines until

5820-527: The engine by one power stroke. The transmission system employed a large flywheel to even out the action of the piston rod. On 21 February 1804, the world's first steam-powered railway journey took place when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales . Trevithick later demonstrated a locomotive operating upon

5917-475: The era of great expansion of railways that began in the late 1860s. Steel rails lasted several times longer than iron. Steel rails made heavier locomotives possible, allowing for longer trains and improving the productivity of railroads. The Bessemer process introduced nitrogen into the steel, which caused the steel to become brittle with age. The open hearth furnace began to replace the Bessemer process near

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6014-522: The first commercial example of the system on the Lugano Tramway . Each 30-tonne locomotive had two 110 kW (150 hp) motors run by three-phase 750 V 40 Hz fed from double overhead lines. Three-phase motors run at a constant speed and provide regenerative braking , and are well suited to steeply graded routes, and the first main-line three-phase locomotives were supplied by Brown (by then in partnership with Walter Boveri ) in 1899 on

6111-474: The five-year project, 28 people died, six in a single cave-in on July 30, 1926. Track rails in the tunnel, originally jointed , were replaced in the 1930s with continuous welded rail , one of the earliest such installations in North America. This decision was prompted by the corrosive effect of coal smoke and steam condensate, captive within the tunnel, on the joints. The pilot bore was leased to

6208-461: The highest possible radius. All these features are dramatically different from freight operations, thus justifying exclusive high-speed rail lines if it is economically feasible. Monarch Pass The pass is located on the Continental Divide at the southern end of the Sawatch Range along the border between Gunnison and Chaffee counties, approximately 25 miles (40 km) west of

6305-458: The lessee on February 26, 1928. Upon completion of the Dotsero Cutoff five years later, railroad connections through the tunnel shortened the distance between Denver and the Pacific coast by 176 miles (283 km). The tunnel took 48 months to bore; the average daily progress was 21 feet (6.4 m). The first train passed through the tunnel in February 1928. Although the original cost of

6402-1230: The limit being regarded at 200 to 350 kilometres per hour (120 to 220 mph). High-speed trains are used mostly for long-haul service and most systems are in Western Europe and East Asia. Magnetic levitation trains such as the Shanghai maglev train use under-riding magnets which attract themselves upward towards the underside of a guideway and this line has achieved somewhat higher peak speeds in day-to-day operation than conventional high-speed railways, although only over short distances. Due to their heightened speeds, route alignments for high-speed rail tend to have broader curves than conventional railways, but may have steeper grades that are more easily climbed by trains with large kinetic energy. High kinetic energy translates to higher horsepower-to-ton ratios (e.g. 20 horsepower per short ton or 16 kilowatts per tonne); this allows trains to accelerate and maintain higher speeds and negotiate steep grades as momentum builds up and recovered in downgrades (reducing cut and fill and tunnelling requirements). Since lateral forces act on curves, curvatures are designed with

6499-429: The locomotive-hauled train's drawbacks to be removed, since the locomotive need not be moved to the front of the train each time the train changes direction. A railroad car is a vehicle used for the haulage of either passengers or freight. A multiple unit has powered wheels throughout the whole train. These are used for rapid transit and tram systems, as well as many both short- and long-haul passenger trains. A railcar

6596-569: The main portion of the B&;O to the new line to New York through a series of tunnels around the edges of Baltimore's downtown. Electricity quickly became the power supply of choice for subways, abetted by the Sprague's invention of multiple-unit train control in 1897. By the early 1900s most street railways were electrified. The London Underground , the world's oldest underground railway, opened in 1863, and it began operating electric services using

6693-525: The maximum safe speed is 45 MPH. The pass is widely considered one of the most scenic in Colorado, offering a panoramic view of the southern end of the Sawatch Range from the summit. During the summer, an aerial tram from the parking lot at the summit carries visitors to the top of Monarch Ridge above the pass (at approximately 12,000 feet (3,700 m) above sea level), allowing a wider view of

6790-433: The mid-1920s. The Soviet Union operated three experimental units of different designs since late 1925, though only one of them (the E el-2 ) proved technically viable. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1914, when Hermann Lemp , a General Electric electrical engineer, developed and patented a reliable direct current electrical control system (subsequent improvements were also patented by Lemp). Lemp's design used

6887-412: The noise they made on the tracks. There are many references to their use in central Europe in the 16th century. Such a transport system was later used by German miners at Caldbeck , Cumbria , England, perhaps from the 1560s. A wagonway was built at Prescot , near Liverpool , sometime around 1600, possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, the line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to

6984-422: The pass is steep and narrow, especially when approached from the east, with a sharp turn required at the summit. Many Colorado pilots therefore advise small aircraft to avoid Monarch in favor of the lower, flatter Marshall Pass just a few miles to the south. On February 17, 2016 at 7:36 p.m. the weather station recorded a wind gust from the west of 148 mph, the highest official gust recorded to date in

7081-525: The possibility of a smaller engine that might be used to power a vehicle. Following his patent, Watt's employee William Murdoch produced a working model of a self-propelled steam carriage in that year. The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick , a British engineer born in Cornwall . This used high-pressure steam to drive

7178-430: The road was rerouted over what was then called Agate Pass or Agate-Monarch Pass, which now serves as the third Monarch Pass. The new U.S. Route 50 over the divide was completed, except for paving, in November 1939, and the new pass was initially designated ‘’Vail Pass’’. Area residents objected to the name, and in December 1939, Governor Ralph Carr officially designated the new pass as ‘’Monarch Pass.’’ Soon thereafter,

7275-507: 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

7372-441: The standard for railways. Cast iron used in rails proved unsatisfactory because it was brittle and broke under heavy loads. The wrought iron invented by John Birkinshaw in 1820 replaced cast iron. Wrought iron, usually simply referred to as "iron", was a ductile material that could undergo considerable deformation before breaking, making it more suitable for iron rails. But iron was expensive to produce until Henry Cort patented

7469-526: The surrounding peaks. During the winter, visitors enjoy skiing at Monarch ski area . Monarch Mountain Lodge is located about 5 miles from the summit of the pass. The current Monarch Pass is the third location on the Continental Divide to carry that name. The Original Monarch Pass is just 1.6 miles (2.6 km) northwest of the present pass. A road traversing this first Monarch Pass was constructed in 1880 and served as an important wagon and stage road connecting

7566-475: The time, was Liverpool and Manchester Railway , built in 1830. Steam power continued to be the dominant power system in railways around the world for more than a century. The first known electric locomotive was built in 1837 by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen in Scotland, and it was powered by galvanic cells (batteries). Thus it was also the earliest battery-electric locomotive. Davidson later built

7663-756: The town of Salida . The pass carries U.S. Highway 50 over the Sawatch Range, providing a route between Tomichi Creek in the upper basin of the Gunnison River on the west and the South Arkansas River , a tributary of the Arkansas River , on the east. The pass can be traversed by all vehicles under most conditions and is generally open year-round; however, 7% grades exist, and the area is prone to heavy winter snowfall, often resulting in temporary closures during severe winter storms. Ramps for runaway trucks are located about halfway down both

7760-420: The town of South Arkansas City (later Salida ) on the east side with booming mining camps and the city of Gunnison on the west side. In 1922, the road was improved and rerouted to better accommodate motor vehicles. The new road crossed the divide 0.6 miles (0.97 km) northwest of the present pass. This second Monarch Pass is what is now known as Old Monarch Pass . It remained an important unpaved crossing of

7857-543: The track. Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate locomotive or from individual motors in self-propelled multiple units. Most trains carry a revenue load, although non-revenue cars exist for the railway's own use, such as for maintenance-of-way purposes. The engine driver (engineer in North America) controls the locomotive or other power cars, although people movers and some rapid transits are under automatic control. Traditionally, trains are pulled using

7954-563: The train is in the tunnel. Moffat Tunnel is owned by the State of Colorado and is operated by Union Pacific under a 99-year lease agreement. The use fee is $ 12,000 per year and is set to expire on January 6, 2025. 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)

8051-471: The transport of ore tubs to and from mines and soon became popular in Europe. Such an operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola in his work De re metallica . This line used "Hund" carts with unflanged wheels running on wooden planks and a vertical pin on the truck fitting into the gap between the planks to keep it going the right way. The miners called the wagons Hunde ("dogs") from

8148-401: 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. 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

8245-570: The tunnel delayed construction, and costs soared. The pilot tunnel was officially "holed through" on February 18, 1927; the blast of dynamite was set off by President Calvin Coolidge pressing a key in Washington, D.C., and the program was broadcast by radio from the heart of the mountain. Three more bond issues were sold before the tunnel was completed. The railroad tunnel was holed through on July 7, 1927, and formally turned over to

8342-635: 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 to not move from one car to another while

8439-401: The tunnel was pegged at $ 6.62 million, final assessments collected by the Moffat Tunnel district, including interest, were $ 23,972,843. The cost of the two tunnels was $ 15.6 million (equivalent to $ 219 million in 2023), which is $ 475 per linear foot ($ 1,558 per linear meter). Each of the ornamental bronze characters on the east and west portals (entrances) of the tunnel cost $ 40 and

8536-629: The wheels on track. For example, evidence indicates that a 6 to 8.5 km long Diolkos paved trackway transported boats across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece from around 600 BC. The Diolkos was in use for over 650 years, until at least the 1st century AD. Paved trackways were also later built in Roman Egypt . In 1515, Cardinal Matthäus Lang wrote a description of the Reisszug ,

8633-622: The world in 1825, although it used both horse power and steam power on different runs. In 1829, he built the locomotive Rocket , which entered in and won the Rainhill Trials . This success led to Stephenson establishing his company as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives for railways in Great Britain and Ireland, the United States, and much of Europe. The first public railway which used only steam locomotives, all

8730-512: Was a soft material that contained slag or dross . The softness and dross tended to make iron rails distort and delaminate and they lasted less than 10 years. Sometimes they lasted as little as one year under high traffic. All these developments in the production of iron eventually led to the replacement of composite wood/iron rails with superior all-iron rails. The introduction of the Bessemer process , enabling steel to be made inexpensively, led to

8827-602: Was accomplished by the distribution of weight between a number of wheels. Puffing Billy is now on display in the Science Museum in London, and is the oldest locomotive in existence. In 1814, George Stephenson , inspired by the early locomotives of Trevithick, Murray and Hedley, persuaded the manager of the Killingworth colliery where he worked to allow him to build a steam-powered machine. Stephenson played

8924-514: Was built by Siemens. The tram ran on 180 volts DC, which was supplied by running rails. In 1891 the track was equipped with an overhead wire and the line was extended to Berlin-Lichterfelde West station . The Volk's Electric Railway opened in 1883 in Brighton , England. The railway is still operational, thus making it the oldest operational electric railway in the world. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram opened near Vienna in Austria. It

9021-706: Was built in 1758, later became the world's oldest operational railway (other than funiculars), albeit now in an upgraded form. In 1764, the first railway in the Americas was built in Lewiston, New York . In the late 1760s, the Coalbrookdale Company began to fix plates of cast iron to the upper surface of the wooden rails. This allowed a variation of gauge to be used. At first only balloon loops could be used for turning, but later, movable points were taken into use that allowed for switching. A system

9118-548: Was introduced in which unflanged wheels ran on L-shaped metal plates, which came to be known as plateways . John Curr , a Sheffield colliery manager, invented this flanged rail in 1787, though the exact date of this is disputed. The plate rail was taken up by Benjamin Outram for wagonways serving his canals, manufacturing them at his Butterley ironworks . In 1803, William Jessop opened the Surrey Iron Railway ,

9215-489: Was light enough to not break the edge-rails track and solved the problem of adhesion by a cog-wheel using teeth cast on the side of one of the rails. Thus it was also the first rack railway . This was followed in 1813 by the locomotive Puffing Billy built by Christopher Blackett and William Hedley for the Wylam Colliery Railway, the first successful locomotive running by adhesion only. This

9312-762: Was tested on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in September of the following year, but the limited power from batteries prevented its general use. It was destroyed by railway workers, who saw it as a threat to their job security. By the middle of the nineteenth century most european countries had military uses for railways. Werner von Siemens demonstrated an electric railway in 1879 in Berlin. The world's first electric tram line, Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway , opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin , Germany, in 1881. It

9409-636: Was the first tram line in the world in regular service powered from an overhead line. Five years later, in the U.S. electric trolleys were pioneered in 1888 on the Richmond Union Passenger Railway , using equipment designed by Frank J. Sprague . The first use of electrification on a main line was on a four-mile section of the Baltimore Belt Line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1895 connecting

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