# What Happened to #9 & #28 Moffat Tunnel subs?



## KmH (Dec 6, 2017)

It's said the UP Moffat Tunnel sub has 28 tunnels east of the Moffat Tunnel.

The west most and closest tunnel to the Moffat Tunnel East portal tunnel is tunnel #30.

Curious about the discrepancy I got to looking at that sub using OpenRailwayMap and Google Maps.

Neither map shows a #9 nor #28 tunnel, which verifies there are just 28 tunnels regardless the tunnel numbering.

Did those 2 tunnel exist back in the day, or did whoever just goof the numbering back when?


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## niemi24s (Dec 6, 2017)

The Open Railway Map tunnel numbers going westbound from Denver show no tunnel between tunnel 8 and tunnel 10. Looking at that area using Goggle Earth imagery shows a 250 yard long area of bare earth beside the track which _may_ be the vestige of tunnel 9 bulldozed down the slope. A little farther West the Open Railway Map shows tunnels 16 and 17 but Google Earth shows another patch of bare ground which may where the last missing tunnel (tunnel 16½?) was located. A more likely candidate for the second missing tunnel (and in keeping with the numbering system) lies about 200 yards West of tunnel 27 where a short 30 yard bare spot seen on Google Earth may be what's left of a very short tunnel or land bridge.

My counts of the tunnels East of the Moffat also show 28 tunnels using the scrollable topographic maps here... http://www.mytopo.com/maps/ ....as well as Google Earth satellite imagery.

A search of the Historical Maps section of the USGS might allow you to find a series of maps in which the those two tunnels disappear between map updates. Maybe.


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## the_traveler (Dec 6, 2017)

That explanation seems the most likely.

Although the tracks between ALB and NYP are double tracked, there is at one point a tunnel on one track while the other track goes thru a cut in the mountain. So would that be listed as Tunnel XX 1/2?


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## niemi24s (Dec 6, 2017)

FWIW, I've seen evidence of another place where short tunnels have been eliminated by the railroads by apparently turning a tunnel into a cut. It's on CSX's Blue Ridge Subdivision, just south of Spruce Pine NC. It can be seen by comparing this older USGS topographic map to Google Earth or the most recent USGS map:




As I recall, the 4 tunnels on the right hand side of that original cluster of 18 tunnels have been eliminated - not by rerouting the track but by turning the tunnel into a cut.


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## KmH (Dec 6, 2017)

I saw the debris fields that may be evidence of where tunnels #9 & #28, likely both quite short tunnels if they existed, may have been back in the day.

I appreciate too that the OpenRailwayMap shows the route (with up to 4% grades) taken OVER the Continental Divide before the Moffatt Tunnel was made.


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## niemi24s (Dec 7, 2017)

Current topographic maps and Google Earth only give hints of the original route replaced by the Moffat Tunnel. But if you go back a few years in the USGS Historic Map Files you can find one that shows both the original route and the tunnel that replaced it:


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