asl 
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scree BP a Fe Sees 
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 221 
river, on the Union Pacific Railroad, and forms the picturesque buttes 
back of the town. 
The formations in this vicinity are the same as those that the 
traveler saw in Grand Valley, Colo., between Rifle and De Beque— 
variegated Wasatch shale at the base and white shale of the Green 
River formation above it. (See p. 148.) 
At the siding of Scenic, 5 miles west of Soldier Summit, the trav- 
eler may look down on the north (right) and see not only the old 
line of the railroad 439 feet below him but also 
the loop over which he will pass in a few minutes. 
The difference between a 4 per cent and a 2 per 
cent grade is here brought out clearly, even to 
those who are not familiar with the engineering problems of rail- 
road construction. Two miles farther on the road makes a broad 
Scenic. 
Elevation 6,968 feet. 
Denver 657 miles. 
Figure 58.—Section at Gilluly, showing relation of the northward-dipping red Wasatch 
. to the white Green River formation. 
loop to the right, still in the Wasatch formation, and returns along 
the mountain side at a lower level. A reverse 
: loop is made under the old roadbed at the station 
en ea of Gilluly, and from this point down through the 
canyon the railroad follows the right wall, but 
far above the level of the old line. 
e rocks which form the mountain side above the tracks and 
which have been deeply cut in order to provide a roadbed are all 
in the Green River formation. They are naturally dark, but on 
weathering they turn intensely white. Experiments have shown 
at oil in commercial quantity may be distilled from many beds of 
this shale, and it is possible that gasoline and other grades of oil, 
Me well as fertilizer, may some day be extensively manufactured 
ere,75 
Gilluly. 
Set a ee Oe a a 
* As stated on p. 149, the Green River | this shale is available in Utah and that 
Shale is continuous north of the rail- 
Toad from Rifle, Colo., to Soldier Sum- 
mit, Utah. The beds from which oil 
May be distilled are not so thick in 
Utah as in Colorado, but recent work 
done in this region by D. E. Winches- 
ter has shown that a great quantity of 
/it may yet be a valuable source of 
petroleum when the fields that are now 
Summit will yield on distillation at 
least 16.8 gallons of crude oil to the 
ton. 
