Moffat Tunnel Air Evacuation/James Peak Wilderness Area
Dec 1, 2020 12:46:06 #
Moffat Tunnel is a railroad tunnel that runs for several miles under the Continental Divide. It was completed in 1927 after several years of construction. The trains are in the tunnel for several minutes and it is necessary to clear the tunnel of smoke and fumes etc. At each end of the tunnel there is a large complex of blowers and turbines etc. that clear out the air in the tunnel.
The blowers are very loud and can be heard for a long distance away. Here is a picture of the tunnel before they have evacuated the air from the tunnel and one during the blowout.
The James Peak Wilderness Area begins a few hundred yards behind the tunnel and is a popular area for hikers, snowshoers, skiers and some campers, and hunters.The trail head here accesses numerous other trail going to lakes and passes over the Divide.
I stopped going there about half a century ago because the trailhead was not well known and there were usually only two or three other cars parked there and I was nervous about being the last one off the mountain some days. Several years ago I started hiking there again during the week, but now on the weekends there can be over two hundred cars parked in the two dirt parking lots. There is a lot of wildlife in the area with deer, moose and coyotes being the most common.
A few years ago my son in law mentioned that the view towards the mountains above the tunnel is pretty nice. In all the hundreds of times I'd been there I never thought to take a picture of it because there are so many similar or better shots available but now I cannot drive that road without taking a picture of that setting. I've attached one.
Even tho I checked store original that didn't happened for the first pic. Sorry. I'll post some interesting shots of the area some other time and quit for now. Stay tuned to this station for moose, high lakes, slippery logs and possible unexplained Indian petroglyphs.
The blowers are very loud and can be heard for a long distance away. Here is a picture of the tunnel before they have evacuated the air from the tunnel and one during the blowout.
The James Peak Wilderness Area begins a few hundred yards behind the tunnel and is a popular area for hikers, snowshoers, skiers and some campers, and hunters.The trail head here accesses numerous other trail going to lakes and passes over the Divide.
I stopped going there about half a century ago because the trailhead was not well known and there were usually only two or three other cars parked there and I was nervous about being the last one off the mountain some days. Several years ago I started hiking there again during the week, but now on the weekends there can be over two hundred cars parked in the two dirt parking lots. There is a lot of wildlife in the area with deer, moose and coyotes being the most common.
A few years ago my son in law mentioned that the view towards the mountains above the tunnel is pretty nice. In all the hundreds of times I'd been there I never thought to take a picture of it because there are so many similar or better shots available but now I cannot drive that road without taking a picture of that setting. I've attached one.
Even tho I checked store original that didn't happened for the first pic. Sorry. I'll post some interesting shots of the area some other time and quit for now. Stay tuned to this station for moose, high lakes, slippery logs and possible unexplained Indian petroglyphs.
Tunnel before exhaust
Tunnel during exhaust
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Tunnel is to the left of the second ridge on left
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Dec 1, 2020 13:10:44 #
fantom wrote:
Moffat Tunnel is a railroad tunnel that runs for s... (show quote)
Very interesting narrative and images to support it.
Dec 1, 2020 13:38:06 #
PixelStan77 wrote:
Very interesting narrative and images to support it.
Thanks for the comment.
Dec 1, 2020 18:14:10 #
Take the nasty 4wd only road to James Peak, then follow the trail past two lakes to the pass which goes down to Winter Park. Also in the area is Rollins Pass, past Yankee Doodle Lake and Jenny Lake on the old RR bed. At Yankee Doodle Lake the road is blocked by snow until mid to late July. There you see many Subarus, like a mega sale event. Super photo ops. Thanks for taking me down memory lane.
Dec 1, 2020 18:18:23 #
Take the nasty 4wd only road to James Peak, then follow the trail past two lakes to the pass which goes down to Winter Park. Also in the area is Rollins Pass, past Yankee Doodle Lake and Jenny Lake on the old RR bed. At Yankee Doodle Lake the road is blocked by snow until mid to late July. There you see many Subarus, like a mega sale event. Super photo ops. Thanks for taking me down memory lane.
Dec 2, 2020 12:06:37 #
Dec 3, 2020 12:24:24 #
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