Long hidden Moffat Cup emerges in Colorado NEWSWIRE

DENVER — It was a historic day for Colorado railroad history on Friday when a giant silver cup made out of pure silver weighing 230-pounds with a marble base was brought out of storage for the public to see after being tucked away for almost a century at History Colorado.

The cup was unveiled at a ceremony in Denver Union Station and was put on permanent display across from the Amtrak ticket office in the southwest corner of the station. Among those involved in the event and with bringing the cup out of hiding were Amtrak conductor Brad Swartzwelter of the California Zephyr and Winter Park Express, History Colorado, ColoRail, and the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club,

The story of the “Moffat Cup” began in 1904 when the city of Denver presented David H. Moffat a 230-pound silver cup for building a railroad west out over the Rocky Mountains, the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway after having the Union Pacific bypass Denver 100-miles to the north in Cheyenne and the Denver & Rio Grande 100-miles south in Pueblo. Moffat poured his entire life’s fortune to build the railroad west over the Rocky Mountains to connect Denver with Salt Lake City, but only made it to Craig in Northwestern Colorado when he used up his funds. Moffat passed away in 1911 but his legacy has lived on. Moffat’s railroad was built over the Continental Divide on Rollins Pass with summit at 11,676-ft in elevation. Such endeavor brought the route two and four percent grades with numerous loops that caused issues with the railroad.

After Moffat’s death, the railroad became the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad in 1913 and a 6.2 mile-long tunnel was constructed underneath the Continental Divide that cut travel time and made it safer for trains to reach the other side of the divide. Thanks to the Dotsero cutoff being constructed west from Bond that connected with the Denver & Rio Grande at Dotsero, Moffat’s route finally connected Denver with Salt Lake City.