Just west of Tunnel 29, the Rocky Mountaineer crosses the well-known bridge (amongst railfans of the Moffat, anyway) that crosses South Boulder Creek. The train is headed for a clear (green) signal around the bend at the east switch of Cliff.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster.
Posted By Terry Ten Eyck On Saturday, May 24, 2025 At 4:44:34 PM (PT)
The perspective shown in Kevin's great photograph of The Rocky Mountaineer at the first crossing of South Boulder Creek gives a great peek at the 64' long steel deck plate girders spanning the stream between the graffitied concrete piers. They were installed in 1949, replacing the 1904 18' high, 63' long timber trestle. The conduit alongside the girder contains Phil Anschutz' fiber optic cable, installed during his Southern Pacific's ownership era.
These girders were built in 1903 by A. J. Tullock's Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Works Co. in Leavenworth, Kansas and from 1903 to 1939, these girders were a part of the 256' long Coal Creek Viaduct. This 256' steel bridge was replaced in 1939 by an earth fill to accommodate the newer and heavier 2-8-8-2 Rio Grande locomotives.
Most of these 1903 girders have found new homes between Leyden and East Portal.
In 1939, the relocated Highway 72 overpass at Coal Creek received recycled bridge girders and in 1941 so did the County Road 16 overpass west of Tolland. In 1950, recycled girders were installed on the Indiana street overpass.
