DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 217 
Throughout the main part of the canyon the railroad climbs steadily 
in order to cross over the top of the Wasatch Plateau. For about 10 
miles out of Helper the grade is 127 feet to the mile, and though such 
a grade is not excessive it necessitates the use of extra engines on some 
of the heavy trains to get them to the summit. 
Northward the canyon gradually grows less and less rugged and the 
walls decrease in height until just above the first tunnel, 14 miles above 
Nolan, the thick ledges of sandstone give place to weaker beds of 
muddy sandstone, shale, and fresh-water limestone. Although these 
beds are in general gray, they belong to a different geologic forma- 
tion from that which carries the coal beds at Castlegate. This forma- 
tion, the Wasatch,’? which appears just above the first tunnel, is gen- 
erally red, and in many places it is very coarse, but here it is light in 
color and is composed of fine material. Where the less resistant rocks 
form the surface the slopes become smoother and less steep and the 
general aspect of the canyon is much subdued. These gray beds 
continue to a point about halfa mile above the station of Kyune. 
The upper part of the Wasatch is composed mostly of red clay or 
shale and appears to contain only a few beds of sandstone. Some 
of these beds have been quarried extensively above 
Kyune, where this part of the formation first makes 
its appearance. As the upper part of the Wasatch 
ormation in this locality is composed largely of 
soft material, the slopes are gentle and the immediate hills are 
low. Here and there a harder or a thicker bed appears at the 
surface, and at these places the valley becomes more like a canyon. 
Kyune. 
Elevation 7,013 feet. 
Denver 639 miles. 
land or at the bottom of a lake. Suc 
a lake probably existed in the aetna 
gate region, an it were deposited 
the fresh- aii ernie and shales 
which in this stitute 700 or 
800 feet of she lower Tare of the for- 
™=The Wasatch formation was one 
of the first to be laid down in the 
Tertiary period. At the beginning of 
this period there was a wide uplift of 
Many mountain ranges, and as soon. 
as these ranges attained ‘cbauiliataitle 
height above sea level were vig- | mation. 
orously lng ked by streams, which From the very manner of its origin 
rolled great boulders down the steep ape esis of transportation the Wa- 
t 
source of its material cad the distance 
to which it has been carried. Such 
differences will be seen by the traveler 
oun s by the streams, 
as similar material is Mn fiend earried 
far away from the where it 
originated, and was dsb thes 
the fairly even surfac er |- 
tends to drop coarse a AT ee "the however, is remarkably constant—its 
r maroo r, whi ¢ 
boulders, gravel, and sand ere | red 0 m color, which is char- 
dropped near the mountains, but the | acteristic of the formation generally 
clay was carr npay ountain re- 
ied farther off, an 
finally all the earthy material found 
a resting place on the surface of the 
throughout the 
gion and is the most reliable means 
by which it can be identifi 
