DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 215 
Half a mile above Helper a branch railrvad turns back to the left 
up Spring Canyon to coal mines at Storrs, ‘Standardville, and other 
towns where mines have recently been opened, and about 2 miles above 
Helper the Utah Railway, a new line built to replace the one from 
Price to Hiawatha, connects the mines at 
Hiawatha, Mohrland, and Wattis with 
the Denver & Rio Grande Western. 
The scenery in Spring Canyon, as in 
many others on the road, is dominated 
by great sandstones. This dominance is 
shown particularly by the narrowness 
of the canyon. Where the base of the 
cliffs is ee of shale the canyon 
is wider, as can be seen in the first 2 
miles above Halper. but where the can- 
yon walls are composed largely of sand- 
stone, as they are farther up, the canyon 
is narrow, barely affording room for the 
automobile highway, the railroad, and 
the river. The walls of the canyon also 
show the effect of the different rocks; 
where they are mainly shale they have a 
pronounced slope, but where they are 
mainly sandstone they are precipitous 
and in places vertical. Each spur that projects into the canyon is pre- 
served by heavy sandstone, and therefore the characteristic feature 
of the canyon is the many sandstone points which stand up like walls 
or dikes. 
2 
Mesaverde formation 
Mancos shale 
0 500 
Vertical scale 
Figure 57.—Geologic section at 
Castlegate. 
stone or at the top of the main mass ; Cameron, aay miles northwest of Castle- 
of marine shale. The upper part of | gate; Storrs, 34 miles northwest of 
the Mancos shale in Price River can- | Helper; peanbacuy ale 43 miles north- 
yon contains several prominent beds | west of Helper; and Hiawatha, 
of sandstone (see fig. 57), which wedge | miles southwest of Price. The coal at 
out toward the east. The lowest of | Castlegate was formerly coked, but as 
hese beds crosses Price River about | the Sunnyside coal proved to be better 
3 miles below (south of) Helper, and adapted to coking, the Castlegate cok- 
ut 
er 
and the tipple a the Panther Coal Co. | upper and lower ones are 18 to 20 feet 
The Mesaverde contains several coal | thick, and the middle one is 4 to 6 
beds which differ in thickness from | feet thick 
place to place but where thickest are The Castlegate group includes four 
of great value. seed is mined on a | coal beds, which differ greatly in thick- 
large scale along Price River canyon | ness from place to place but are locally 
and its tributaries at “Ken ie orth, 2} | minable. At Cameron the coal does 
miles east of Helper: Panther, half a | not come to the surface but is reached 
mile south of Se atieestes se aii by a slope. The two beds that are 
