Denver and Salt Lake Railway

Denver and Salt Lake Railway
Company type	Railroad
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	July 1902; 124 years ago
Founder	David H. Moffat, Walter S. Cheesman, William Gray Evans, Charles J. Hughes Jr., George E. Ross-Lewin, S.M. Perry, Frank P. Gibson
Defunct	1947
Fate	Acquired by Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad; merged fully in 1947
Headquarters	Denver, United States
Area served	Colorado, United States
Key people	David H. Moffat (president), H.A. Sumner (chief engineer)
Products	Rail transport services
Parent	Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (from 1931)

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Denver and Salt Lake Railway, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 25 July 2025

The Denver and Salt Lake Railway (D&SL) was a railroad enterprise operating in the United States, headquartered in Colorado. Established in 1902 under the name Denver, Northwestern and Pacific (DN&P) Railway, its primary objective was to link Denver with Salt Lake City, Utah. Despite enduring several restructurings due to financial difficulties, by the time it was acquired in 1931 by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW), the railway extended only as far west as Craig, Colorado. Following this acquisition, the eastern portion served as a more direct route into Denver for D&RGW, while the western stretch functioned as a branch line. Presently, segments of the former D&SL are integrated into Union Pacific Railroad’s Moffat Tunnel Subdivision within its Central Corridor, with Amtrak’s California Zephyr operating on the segment between Denver and Bond, Colorado.

History

Founded in July 1902 by prominent businessmen such as David H. Moffat, Walter S. Cheesman, William Gray Evans, Charles J. Hughes Jr., George E. Ross-Lewin, S.M. Perry, and Frank P. Gibson, the DN&P emerged to overcome Denver’s lack of inclusion in existing transcontinental rail networks controlled by Union Pacific and D&RGW. The founders envisioned establishing a competitive "Air Line" that would directly connect Denver westward to Salt Lake City, thereby expanding market reach and regional prominence. Under Moffat’s leadership as president, the company ambitiously pursued this expansion despite ongoing financial obstacles.

Front Range

Beginning construction in December 1902, the railway extended westward from Denver before turning north along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains toward Boulder, then veering west through South Boulder Canyon. Chief Engineer H.A. Sumner designed the route to maintain a 2% grade by incorporating features such as the Big Ten Curve and eight tunnels, offering passengers panoramic views of Denver and its environs.

Continental Divide

By 1903, rails had reached Tolland, located just east of the Continental Divide, where Sumner planned the crossing of Rollins Pass at an elevation of 11,680 feet. Although initially intended to be tunneled beneath, budget limitations necessitated a route employing switchbacks with a steep 4% grade along with tunnels and extensive loops to navigate the pass. This segment became North America’s highest mainline railroad at that time. Rollins Pass later earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places owing to its engineering significance. Small stations at Corona and Arrow offered accommodations and services for crews maintaining the line during severe winters; nevertheless, trains frequently encountered delays due to heavy snowfall.

Middle Park

By spring 1905, track construction had advanced westward to Fraser and continued through Granby, Hot Sulphur Springs, and Byers Canyon until reaching Chief Engineer Sumner’s notable accomplishment: the three-mile passage through Gore Canyon. Carved along the canyon wall, this section remains unique as the sole rail corridor through Gore Canyon and was regarded as a remarkable engineering feat. The line then proceeded west to State Bridge before turning northward to reach Steamboat Springs by late 1909. By 1913, it extended to its ultimate terminus at Craig in Moffat County, Colorado.

Moffat Tunnel

The difficulties faced in rail transport over Rollins Pass were overcome in 1927 with the completion of the Moffat Tunnel, a passage carved through the Continental Divide beneath James Peak. Situated at an elevation of 9,239 feet, it is located approximately fifty miles west of Denver. The tunnel's construction concluded on July 7, 1927, and it was officially transferred to railroad operations on February 26, 1928. Bearing the name of David H. Moffat, the company’s founder who passed away in 1911 while securing funding for its continuation, this tunnel greatly improved the efficiency of railroad operations.

Dotsero Cutoff

After David Moffat's death, the railroad entered receivership in 1912 and was reorganized as the Denver and Salt Lake Railroad (DS&L) in 1913, later renamed Denver & Salt Lake Railway in 1926. In 1931, the D&RGW purchased DS&L along with its subsidiary Denver & Salt Lake Western Railroad to obtain rights for constructing a 40-mile link connecting the two networks. Construction of the Dotsero Cutoff commenced in 1932 and was finalized in 1934, creating a direct rail connection between Denver and Salt Lake City. This strategic development expanded market reach and enhanced network integration. The DS&L was fully merged into D&RGW by 1947, which itself was acquired by Southern Pacific in 1988 and later by Union Pacific Railroad in 1996. Aside from the Rollins Pass section, the original DS&L route continues to operate, highlighting its lasting importance within global rail operations.

Unfinished route

The portion of the Denver and Salt Lake Railroad left incomplete in Utah was intended to cross the oil-rich Uinta Basin, representing considerable untapped commercial opportunity. Between 1915 and 1920, various public and private initiatives proposed establishing a Uinta Basin Rail line to connect this resource-abundant region to the national rail system, underscoring strategic ambitions to enhance freight transportation.

In 1984, the Deseret Power Railroad was created to connect a coal mine in Colorado with a power plant in Utah along part of the originally planned D&SL corridor; however, this line remains isolated from the wider rail network.

A study conducted by the Utah Department of Transportation in 2015 identified developing a freight rail corridor to the Uinta Basin as a priority to ease highway congestion and lower transportation expenses compared to competing oil-producing areas served by rail. The recommended route would track Indian Canyon, following U.S. Route 191 into the basin before linking with Union Pacific's Central Corridor near Soldier Summit—demonstrating deliberate infrastructure planning aimed at fostering business expansion within this critical market.

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