Tunnels 19, 20, 21, and 22

To the west of Crescent, the mainline enters the Upper Region of the Tunnel District. This region transitions from the mainline residing well above South Boulder Creek to the shores of the creek. As the main resumes its climb west of Crescent, it climbs into Sawmill Gulch which narrows, until the line is forced to tunnel through another ridge line with Tunnel 19.

SP212 and SP139 lead a coal train east bound out of Tunnel 19 headed for Crescent. Photo from Rio Grande Secret Places, Volume 1 by R.C. Farewell.

Tunnel 19 is 1055' long, and is quickly followed by Tunnel 20 at 460' long. In between, lies a fill across Chamberlain Gulch, once again separating two ridges.

DRGW3064 and DRGW3136 lead an eastbound piggyback train towards Denver. Photo from Rio Grande Secret Places, Volume 1 by R.C. Farewell.

The pattern continues. Upon exiting Tunnel 20, the main crosses Advent Gulch on another fill and enters into the 667' long Tunnel 21, which allows the line to continue along Advent Gulch. Tunnel 22 is used to penetrate through a 177' spur of rocky entering into Advent Gulch, before yet another fill leads to Tunnel 23 and finally a departure from Advent Gulch.

Amtrak F40s (392, 334, 370, and 332) emerge from Tunnel 21 into one of the drainages that form Advent Gulch. Photo from Rio Grande Secret Places, Volume 1 by R.C. Farewell.

DRGW3120 leads a loaded coal train east out of Tunnel 22. Photo from Rio Grande Secret Places, Volume 1 by R.C. Farewell.

So, the initial stretch of tunnels west of Crescent brings the main line through a ridge, across a drainage and into another tunnel, repeating the process several times. The track plan does the same, climbing all the way from an elevation of 38" above the reference elevation to 40.5" above the reference elevation at the portal to Tunnel 23.

Track Plan for Tunnels 19-22.

These tunnels bring the main line back across the width of the garage to the left side of the room, headed back towards the Big 10 Curves. Again, I maintain the proportionality of the tunnel lengths (Tunnel 19 at 55.4", Tunnel 20 at 29", Tunnel 21 at 38.6" and Tunnel 22 at 13.2") as well as their spacing. Furthermore, the tunnels lie across a generous aisle of 38" wide from the rest of the layout. By the time we reach Tunnel 23, the layout has wrapped around to the electrical panels along the left wall in the garage. Dealing with these panels is the next challenge in the design, and marks our entry into the third deck of the layout.

Track Plan for Deck 2 showing how all of these elements fit into the room.

 To wrap up the tour of this deck, I've included a plan that together with the snapshots from the individual plans, shows this entire deck from the west end of Rocky Siding, to the east portal of Tunnel 23.

11 Days, 11 Posts to Go.

Cameron Turner