Heart of the Tunnel District A westbound Union Pacific coal train climbs through the heart of the Tunnel District at South Draw just east of Crescent, Colorado, on May 14, 2017. The train is in four tunnels at once on the twisting and arduous climb—tunnel Nos. 13 through 16—as the train works up the two-percent grade. Curving past site of former Tunnel 17 (abandoned after collapse during construction) is the seven locomotives on the head end of the empty. This collapsed tunnel was bypassed using a “shoofly” that can somewhat be seen just to the left of the locomotives, used until the the old tunnel was daylighted in 1938. The train will soon be entering “new” 1,752-foot Tunnel 17.
