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Steamboat Springs — 50 years ago

From the Thursday, Jan. 23, 1958, edition of The Steamboat Pilot:

An east-west Interstate highway through Western Colorado was assured this week when the Utah State Road Commission voted to accept a 547-mile road between Denver and Cove Fort, Utah.

The Utah board asked the Bureau of Public Roads and Colorado to select Berthoud Pass as the site for the proposed highway tunnel under the Continental Divide. It stated this location would "greatly improve transportation facilities immeasurably" on Utah fedder systems.

There was much opposition to the Bureau of Public Roads plan in Utah because some think the Interstate highway should follow U.S. Highway 40 between Denver and Salt Lake City.

The Bureau of Public Roads has not made public the route the highway will follow in Colorado, other than it will come by way of Grand Junction.

Many in this state and Utah are hopeful it will come up the Colorado River and then tunnel under Berthoud Pass, as it is felt this route has many advantages over other proposals.

If the Berthoud tunnel is used, the route would leave U.S. 40 at Kremmling. However, many residents in this area think that with the improvement program on Rabbit Ears Pass, the U.S. 40 route would be followed into Northwest Colorado by those who wanted to vacation.

REA 'cat' can climb mountains to work

It may lack a luxurious interior and a sweeping, streamlined body, but the REA's new "snow cat" will plow through deep snow or mud up almost anything short of a 90-degree angle.

With its large windows and widely spaced headlights, the red vehicle looks like a vehicle from outer space. Quick to acclimate itself, it soon will be carrying men up Emerald Mountain to the REA radio transmitter and to damaged power lines that couldn't be reached any other way.

The 11-by-8 "cat" is one of a series manufactured by Bombardier Snowmobile Limited of Valcourt, Quebec, and distributed by Symington of Seattle. All models are powered by Chrysler engines, and one even comes with skis instead of front wheels.

Riding in its warm yellow and red cab is somewhat like being in a bus with a full view to the front and sides. Maintenance is not much of a problem, for its 115 horsepower engine is readily accessible in a box-affair behind the cab.

As many as 10 men can travel up to 25 miles per hour in the snow cat, but its cruising speed is 18 miles per hour. The wide "running boards" above the tracks and the platform behind the cab allow ample space for cargo.

If a grounded satellite or space monster is reported on a nearby peak, it will probably be the REA cat carrying men to fix lines that would otherwise remain broken until spring.

Pilot opinion: No overnight job

There is no use pushing the panic button over the education of scientists.

There is no amount of education, nor no corps of educators, who can make scientists out of all the college population.

And to say that the boys and girls should be sent home if they cannot absorb scientific knowledge by the shovelfuls is not realistic. Certainly, we cannot have a world populated by scientists alone, for it would be a very dreary place, indeed.

There will always be a need for a good sound liberal arts education, for business instruction and for well-educated people in a lot of pursuits other than making guided missiles.

Spending a few billion more on education is not going to make a race of scientists overnight, but we will admit more emphasis should be placed on mathematics so one-tenth of 1 percent of the population could figure out their tax returns.