Alpine Tunnel: The Problem of Clearance, part 2

Restricting the brakemens’ work was only one of the many problems caused by the tight clearances of Alpine Tunnel.  Sometimes equipment simply didn’t fit, like when the rotary snowplow had to go through the tunnel during the winter of 1904-1905.  A number of inches had to be cut off some timbers just to get it through when westbound.  On the way back eastward, three inches needed to be cut off the already cut timbers to get the machine through again.  Owing to this hatchet work, a telegram was later sent from Alpine Tunnel station to report that some of these timbers were now moving inward.  

Rotary just outside of the east portal
(from Historic Alpine Tunnel)

New timbers were sent shortly after the above telegram, but within several months of the repairs, four timbers were found to be “kicking in.”  In September of 1906 the Bridges & Buildings foreman inspected the tunnel and noted that “conditions grow worse as the mountain crowds the timbers.”  He recommended certain sections of timbers to be removed and reinstalled farther back in the wall to widen the tunnel.

Rotaries were not the only pieces of rolling stock with difficulties in the tunnel either.  In November of 1907 a gondola, whose sides had bowed out a foot, scraped on the sides of the tunnel timbers.  An additional problem was the buildup of ice on the timbers.  As the ice accumulated, it stuck out and cars ground into these while traveling through the bore.

Gondola 4319, the only known surviving C&S gondola, on display in Central City (Tim Bain photo). The car is now excellently restored in Como

The Alpine Tunnel, like the famous ocean liner Titanic, is a curious study in a glorious venture that went wrong.  How the great Alpine Tunnel project went wrong still fascinates many, and to the list of problems that brought this ‘ship’ down, must be added, clearance.  It may not be as epic as the Goliath-sized snow drifts that buried the line, but clearance and moving timbers were a continual battering in the hull of the tunnel that helped bring the bore down in the end.

Below is an interview with George Champion who piloted the last rotary through Alpine Tunnel in 1910.

Alpine Tunnel: The Problem of Clearance, part 1

part of a map from the VHS of the video inside the tunnel

Back in 1992, a group of people took a film crew into the Alpine Tunnel.  While I had seen many photos
of the tunnel’s abandoned interior, this video footage truly gave the sense of the tight inky blackness of being inside the fabled bore.  Yet, the narrow confines of walking the tunnel are no comparison to trying to operate full-sized narrow-gauge trains through it as a recent reread of a few pages of Colorado Annual 12 made clear.

A laundry list of problems plagued the Hancock to Quartz segment of the C&S including long stretches of 4% grades, long winters at altitudes above 10,000 feet, rock slides on the western side of the pass, and lack of sun to melt the snow on the east side along with much drifting of the dry snow.  The missing sunlight on the eastern slopes did, however, reach the higher mountain peaks creating slushy snow that eventually came down the mountain onto the track.  One other problem not related to grades or weather, though, was that of clearance in Alpine Tunnel itself.

A display mirroring the tunnel's arch

The Alpine Tunnel was a mere 14 feet high above the rails.  This left just a little over a foot of distance to the ceiling above many locomotive smoke stacks and roughly 24 inches above boxcar brake wheels.  By comparison, these clearances were two or more feet smaller than those of most snowsheds on the line.  The width was similarly tight: 2 1/2 feet less in width than other C&S bridge structures or snowsheds.

One quickly wonders what brakemen who were needed on the top of cars to turn the brake wheels were to do in this circumstance, particularly considering that eastbound trains had the double danger of going downhill once passing the apex of the tunnel and then facing a sharp 24-degree curve just outside of the east portal.  Since the tops of high cars was out of the question due to the height restriction, brakemen chose to find two gondolas with brake wheels on adjoining sides.  This allowed them to do what is called “double brakes” (though, this didn’t keep them from the inevitable smoke inhalation of the belching locomotives).  Still, many trains exiting the east portal were out of control.  It could take all three miles from the tunnel to Hancock to finally stop a train.  Of course, some were not so lucky and left the rails.

A westbound train at the west portal station. 
From Historic Alpine Tunnel by Dow Helmers

Part 2 of this exploration will be posted in the next few days.

If you'd like to see the Alpine Tunnel area by drone, check out this video from my Youtube channel:

Morrison's railroad history and re-laid track

 Back in 2024 Morrison, the first major DSP&P destination, celebrated its sesquicentennial. A video of the celebration does a wonderful job of telling the town's history. In particular, it honors the South Park Line and you'll see railroad history throughout the video (There's even a man impersonating David Moffat). Check out the 10:38 mark and you'll see some more railroad history as well as a shot of the restored track in town that was dedicated that day.