The westbound Zephyr approaches the east portal Tunnel 1 above CO-72 at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. When the Denver and Salt Lake (or, at the time, the Denver, Northwestern, and Pacific) first started investigating routes to head west through The Rockies, Coal Creek Canyon was one of the routes surveyed. The route would have necessitated a 2-3 mile long tunnel. As such, the route along the Front Range and South Boulder Canyon, through the Tunnel District, was chosen instead. Today, of course, CO-72 heads west up Coal Creek Canyon.
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