When the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific (DN&P) Railway was first incorporated in July 1902 by David H. Moffat, Walter S. Cheesman, William Gray Evans, Charles J. Hughes, Jr., George E. Ross-Lewin, S.M.

Perry and Frank P. Gibson, Denver had been bypassed by the Union Pacific Railroad which reached Salt Lake City, Utah, via Cheyenne, Wyoming, and by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW), which ran from Pueblo, Colorado, west through the Royal Gorge.

Sumner, needing to enter the canyon area as high as possible but still maintain a 2% grade, gained the necessary altitude via the Big Ten Curve and some eight tunnels.

As a bonus, his routing scheme along the front range provided rail passengers majestic views of Denver and its surrounding countryside.

[2] By 1903, the tracks reached the Tolland area just east of the Continental Divide where Sumner’s second major engineering feat involved crossing Rollins Pass at an elevation of 11,680 feet (3,560 m).

[6] The trials and tribulations of railroading over Rollins Pass were solved in 1927 with the completion of the Moffat Tunnel, which cut through the Continental Divide under James Peak.

[7] Moffat unfortunately never saw the tunnel that was named in his honor, as he had died in 1911 while in New York City, trying unsuccessfully to raise money to continue railroad construction.

This project, which was completed in 1934, finally gave Denver its direct rail line to Salt Lake City.