Since it sounds like you are working pusher on Hazel Patch hill (around MP KC149?) and that old tunnel numbered "17" I would believe that was part of the main originally that was bypassed by a later line revision. The only branches in this area were the old Rockcastle River RR abandoned in the 1930s, it branched off to the east at East Bernstadt for 16 miles to Bond but had no tunnel near the junction, and an L&N branch to Johnetta that cut off to east from Brush Creek near MP KC142. Once again since tunnel numbered 17 I'd say ex main. Check out section just north of Sinks/Mullins (Orlando) where there are several bridges and tunnels (numbered in the low teens I believe) in a 1 mile stretch with main line tunnels, as well as mileposts, here numbered starting from Covington and the mileposts KC from the original Kentucky Central Railroad.
You made a great find, amazing what can be found when the trees are in hibernation, I live outside of the borough of Susquehanna Pennsylvania, the Erie railroad built through the area back in the late 1840's, the railroad built a round house and repair shops and had a good size rail yard for cars and engines, it is the "jump off point" between the Susquehanna river crossing over Gulf Summitt to the Delaware river at Deposit New York, the Erie railroad became the Erie Lackawanna railroad then became part of Conrail back in the 1970's before becoming almost abandoned when the New York Susquehanna and Western bought the rail line, this stretch of railroad runs from Jersey City New Jersey and Binghamton New York with points further on both ends, I don't know of any tunnels that may exist but it's a possibility further past the Delaware's river, the main highlight of my area is the Starrucca viaduct, built by the Erie railroad to cross the Starrucca creek, it is over 110 feet high originally built for two sets of rails and over 1,000 feet long with a grade leading up to Cascade valley and Gulf summit, the Starrucca viaduct is the oldest railroad bridge still in use today and was built in 1847&1848 , the Erie railroad also had a rail line that ran from Carbondale Pennsylvania up into New York State crossing under the Starrucca viaduct, it was sold to the Delaware and Hudson railroad before being acquired by Conrail and completely abandoned by 1989 with the tracks being removed and the railbed turned into a rail trail, the D&H was recently paved over the past few years by the rail trail commission with some bridges being concreted or the rail trail moved to bypass a old bridge
Great to this goes on in America too. I'm a British driver and was running light engine on a route learning trip a while ago and as we were running early arranged with the signalman to stop and explore an old mine, much to the amusement of a group of walkers who were passing , excellent video
That's because in order to get to the tunnel, the graffiti artists would've actually had to _walk_ a few hundred feet to reach it. That's too much effort.
Рік тому+5
The trees where the tracks clearly were seem pretty mature. That tunnel must've closed a LONG time ago! Cool video.
Judging by the size of that tree, it's been a looong time since someone's walked at the mouth of that tunnel! AND NO GRAFFITI!!!! Reminds me of the Othello Tunnels in Hope, British Columbia 🇨🇦 (look it up) Thanks to the guy who filmed this👍 Cheers!
I was waiting for it. That would be a good twist. I've had that happen with a flashlight bouncing off the water letting me know someone was down there and wanted no visitors. Time to go back out.
Abandoned Railroad Tunnel Tunnel #17 which sits abandoned outside of Cairo West Virginia. The old tunnel was part of a 72 mile track built by the B&O Railroad in the 1850s. Now part of the North Bend Rail Trail, this and two other abandoned tunnels, along with 10 other accessable tunnels, make up a magnificent trail from Parkersburg to Clarksburg that has no more than a 3% grade.
@@wanderingrailroader4345 wasn't sure of the location. So i just did a google search for abandoned tunnel 17 and it came up with the Cairo one. Assume the CSX line is former L&N ?
I've just discovered your channel and I like what I see, I enjoy trains and everything to do with railways especially in other countries, this video is well worth a thumbs up and a Subscription with all notifications, I look forward to further posts and will checkout your previous posts, thank you, all the best, 👍👍👍👊✌️🇬🇧🌍.
First time seeing your video post I am a train fanatic love those old tunnels I used to love to ride up to Tunnel Hill Georgia and look at the old Civil War tunnel
Well. Its concrete and well built so probably not a narrow guage road. Also not covered much mountain so why dig through when a cut would do. No remnants of trackwork . maybe a drainage tummel or canal tunnel. Doesnt seem like it needed to ne there at all. Stumper.. .
I’m wondering since there used to be a mainline track near here many years ago that this tunnel would have connected to that track at some point, making a wye. This tunnel goes in that direction. It’s the only thing that I’ve thought about that makes sense for it to have been there.
Very interesting, I'm sure not too many people realize it's even there. Do you know how long it is, the other end still open, what railroad it was? I like your 'chariot' lol, a YN2 paint scheme AC44CW with radial trucks, not too shabby. Cool video, thanks for posting 👍🏼😁🇺🇸
I’m unsure, it was filled with so much water and was not dressed to wade through water. I’ve heard that it used to belong to a railroad that was mainly used for logging back in the day. There is an old track bed that runs parallel to our tracks with old tunnels that nobody sees but we also never stop near them, so I don’t get to check them out. I assume that this tunnel was part of that railroad that passed by.
I’ve heard back in the late 1800s that there was a logging railroad that used to run beside our tracks at certain points. There are several other abandoned tunnels along our route but I’ve never had the opportunity to stop and explore those. Some of those look much more interesting.
I know I’m late to this but I think the number 17 might actually be part of a date. Most old tunnel entrances I’ve seen have the year spaced out instead of being straight in the middle. I know it’s a long shot but perhaps it’s 17 something 1790 just a guess. Now I gotta look into this
Well I looked into it and it may just be a single number 17. The earliest train tunnel to ever operate in the United States was made in 1833 called the Staple Bend tunnel. Like I said in my comment above, it was a long shot. Although I still did look into it, like many, not much can be found about this particular tunnel, only that it’s been in disuse for nearly, or over a century due to the land surrounding it.
Love stuff like this. Wish someone could provide more info about this tunnel. If i knew where it was maybe i could find and follow the old rail line in Google Earth VR (A favorite pass time of mine). Judging by the size of the tree growing in front of it it must have been disused for at least 100 years or close to it, whatever it was used for.
@@wanderingrailroader4345 did you ever determine whether there was an opening at the other end. If not maybe it was some sort of storage tunnel for some sort of railroad equipment back in the day, considering its proximity to the track and relative narrowness.
@@timcase2494 there is another tunnel opening close to where this is. However I have never been fortunate to be able to stop my train there to check it out. There are multiple tunnels along this line that are abandoned. Many I have never been able to check out, other than passing by train. Some of the tunnels seem very small for any type of modern locomotive to go through. I had heard that a logging company years back in the civil war days had made these tunnels and had their own rail line. These tunnels appear to have been made many years ago. So there may be some truth to it.
@@wanderingrailroader4345 I'd believe that tunnel was built back near the Civil War-any time in the late 19th century would fit just fine with what you showed us. I have my doubts about it being built for a logging railroad, though. Logging railroads tended to be low-speed, low-budget operations, and that's not a low-budget tunnel. Reasons: 1. The liner at the end is concrete, not timber. 2. They didn't shy away from digging-probably blasting-through solid rock a few dozen yards in. Sure, the 19th-century folks knew how to do that, but it wasn't cheap by any stretch. 3. If this was Tunnel 17, they had a whole bunch of *other* tunnels on their line, presumably all built to the same kind of standards as this one. Putting that much money into building a line says to me that they expected to use it for a lot of traffic for a long time, in order to make back the investment. Granted that in the late 19th century people tended to have unrealistic expectations for railroad traffic, but still-those folks were thinking mainline levels of traffic, not a logging road. Of course, I could be wrong.
Judging on where the train tunnel is at and the way you came out of the woods, most likely you would come off the main line to a switch by the way it looks to me.
I just dont think this was a RR tunnel. The approach is at an odd angle to the adit. The floor of the concrete tunnel is far below the approach grade. The tunnel seems too small height wise. They dont normally concrete a RR tunnel floor.
Typical railroad! They have done that before only to realize what we already knew, it don’t work. When they made super long trains, they had to have a helper on the rear because they have to be shoved if over 7000 feet
@@wanderingrailroader4345 ours is all grade. Either under power or dynamics. No undulation. We can run big tons South but not much north. Gotta have 10 loads on the head end northbound or it’ll string line.
@@AppalachianRailroader_ I’m working a different subdivision that was not shown on my video. Here there used to be pusher jobs and they were big paying jobs. They cut all those jobs, then made everything extraboard jobs and then cut all the trains in half, running half one day and the other half the next day. Working out of a terminal that used to have 100s of people working in shifts on yard jobs and road jobs. Now I’m one of 6 people. 3 conductors and 3 engineers are left working there.
Since it sounds like you are working pusher on Hazel Patch hill (around MP KC149?) and that old tunnel numbered "17" I would believe that was part of the main originally that was bypassed by a later line revision.
The only branches in this area were the old Rockcastle River RR abandoned in the 1930s, it branched off to the east at East Bernstadt for 16 miles to Bond but had no tunnel near the junction, and an L&N branch to Johnetta that cut off to east from Brush Creek near MP KC142.
Once again since tunnel numbered 17 I'd say ex main. Check out section just north of Sinks/Mullins (Orlando) where there are several bridges and tunnels (numbered in the low teens I believe) in a 1 mile stretch with main line tunnels, as well as mileposts, here numbered starting from Covington and the mileposts KC from the original Kentucky Central Railroad.
You made a great find, amazing what can be found when the trees are in hibernation, I live outside of the borough of Susquehanna Pennsylvania, the Erie railroad built through the area back in the late 1840's, the railroad built a round house and repair shops and had a good size rail yard for cars and engines, it is the "jump off point" between the Susquehanna river crossing over Gulf Summitt to the Delaware river at Deposit New York, the Erie railroad became the Erie Lackawanna railroad then became part of Conrail back in the 1970's before becoming almost abandoned when the New York Susquehanna and Western bought the rail line, this stretch of railroad runs from Jersey City New Jersey and Binghamton New York with points further on both ends, I don't know of any tunnels that may exist but it's a possibility further past the Delaware's river, the main highlight of my area is the Starrucca viaduct, built by the Erie railroad to cross the Starrucca creek, it is over 110 feet high originally built for two sets of rails and over 1,000 feet long with a grade leading up to Cascade valley and Gulf summit, the Starrucca viaduct is the oldest railroad bridge still in use today and was built in 1847&1848 , the Erie railroad also had a rail line that ran from Carbondale Pennsylvania up into New York State crossing under the Starrucca viaduct, it was sold to the Delaware and Hudson railroad before being acquired by Conrail and completely abandoned by 1989 with the tracks being removed and the railbed turned into a rail trail, the D&H was recently paved over the past few years by the rail trail commission with some bridges being concreted or the rail trail moved to bypass a old bridge
Great to this goes on in America too. I'm a British driver and was running light engine on a route learning trip a while ago and as we were running early arranged with the signalman to stop and explore an old mine, much to the amusement of a group of walkers who were passing , excellent video
Sadly there is more places to explore on this line but not fortunate yet to be able to stop in those places yet!
OMG!!! Those fallen leaves near the tunnel were just GORGEOUS and so colorful. Thanks for the video!
It was a good fall there.
@@wanderingrailroader4345 You got that right! Those fallen leaves in your video were just so lovely in the area you were in.
USGS map will show the old railbed and where it went through the mountain
It will show the tunnel as well
I’ll have to see if I can find a copy
Very strange to see that the tunnel hasn't been repeatedly bombed by graffiti. Refreshing!
That's because in order to get to the tunnel, the graffiti artists would've actually had to _walk_ a few hundred feet to reach it. That's too much effort.
The trees where the tracks clearly were seem pretty mature. That tunnel must've closed a LONG time ago! Cool video.
There’s an old stone railroad foundation next to a bridge that crosses the river at Fort Meade in Maryland. Always wondered about it.
Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.
Judging by the size of that tree, it's been a looong time since someone's walked at the mouth of that tunnel! AND NO GRAFFITI!!!! Reminds me of the Othello Tunnels in Hope, British Columbia 🇨🇦 (look it up) Thanks to the guy who filmed this👍 Cheers!
maybe original bed . many tunnels and cut were removed ,curves straightened on so many lines after 1890.
I think I found your location on Google maps. I think this tunnel was part of an older alignment of the branch line that goes to Mt. Vernon.
Nice catch!!!!!!!!!
You would have been making tracks back to your locomotive if someone had answered you from deep inside that tunnel! Good video 👍
Lol yes I would!! Probably with brown marks marking my tracks!
I was waiting for it. That would be a good twist. I've had that happen with a flashlight bouncing off the water letting me know someone was down there and wanted no visitors. Time to go back out.
My dog sat up and barked when you were shouting down the tunnel.
LOL!! Well I got a reaction from something then!
Abandoned Railroad Tunnel
Tunnel #17 which sits abandoned outside of Cairo West Virginia. The old tunnel was part of a 72 mile track built by the B&O Railroad in the 1850s. Now part of the North Bend Rail Trail, this and two other abandoned tunnels, along with 10 other accessable tunnels, make up a magnificent trail from Parkersburg to Clarksburg that has no more than a 3% grade.
Was from a Google Search for abandoned tunnel 17
This tunnel is in rockcastle county, Kentucky. Not sure if it was a tunnel you know that you were talking about or this one.
@@wanderingrailroader4345 wasn't sure of the location. So i just did a google search for abandoned tunnel 17 and it came up with the Cairo one. Assume the CSX line is former L&N ?
@@wills-e7314 yes it’s former L&N. When I get a chance, I hope to check out a few more abandoned tunnels in this area just to see what one might find.
Hi I am a first time viewer and subscriber. I am from Wisconsin and am an engineer and farmer
Thanks for subscribing, channel is just starting out, adding a little at a time when I find something interesting!
I've just discovered your channel and I like what I see, I enjoy trains and everything to do with railways especially in other countries, this video is well worth a thumbs up and a Subscription with all notifications, I look forward to further posts and will checkout your previous posts, thank you, all the best, 👍👍👍👊✌️🇬🇧🌍.
This is wicked cool!
Also I was the 600th 👍🏻
Thank you!
cool video man thanks ✌🏻
First time seeing your video post I am a train fanatic love those old tunnels I used to love to ride up to Tunnel Hill Georgia and look at the old Civil War tunnel
I’m moving to a new area where more tunnels are that many don’t know about. Look for new posts in the future for more abandoned tunnels.
Well. Its concrete and well built so probably not a narrow guage road. Also not covered much mountain so why dig through when a cut would do. No remnants of trackwork . maybe a drainage tummel or canal tunnel. Doesnt seem like it needed to ne there at all. Stumper.. .
I’m wondering since there used to be a mainline track near here many years ago that this tunnel would have connected to that track at some point, making a wye. This tunnel goes in that direction. It’s the only thing that I’ve thought about that makes sense for it to have been there.
Very interesting, I'm sure not too many people realize it's even there. Do you know how long it is, the other end still open, what railroad it was? I like your 'chariot' lol, a YN2 paint scheme AC44CW with radial trucks, not too shabby. Cool video, thanks for posting 👍🏼😁🇺🇸
I’m unsure, it was filled with so much water and was not dressed to wade through water. I’ve heard that it used to belong to a railroad that was mainly used for logging back in the day. There is an old track bed that runs parallel to our tracks with old tunnels that nobody sees but we also never stop near them, so I don’t get to check them out. I assume that this tunnel was part of that railroad that passed by.
Does anyone know the name of this tunnel? I'd love to research it's history
The Name of that TUNNEL,.Was TRAIN TUNNEL !!!!!!!!
That tunnel looks smaller than your modern engine. Could it be a tunnel for mining?
Small rail off load for wood delivery to steam engines or water source for steamers? Underground springs? What state?
I swear I hear a steam engine idling
What an amazing place to explore! Thanks for sharing. I just subscribed to your channel! Keep up the great work! 🤘😎
Thank you!
@@wanderingrailroader4345 no prob! Stay safe out there! 🤘😎
Need a kayak or a skiff. Shortly would be interesting to have the GPS coordinates and do some research, bet it's right interesting. 😃
Depending what's on the other side it could have been a narrow Guage r.r.
Maybe from an old mine....others have asked where this might he...
I’ve heard back in the late 1800s that there was a logging railroad that used to run beside our tracks at certain points. There are several other abandoned tunnels along our route but I’ve never had the opportunity to stop and explore those. Some of those look much more interesting.
Even has a real bell on it!
where is this place?
Wonder if the rails were removed or just buried under years of dirt. Looks like a old four wheeler trail too.
No 4 wheelers here but if they knew of this tunnel I’m sure it would be used. Rails have been removed it seems.
Please put on some water boots and go all the way to the end of the tunnel
Trust me, if I could, I would!
I know I’m late to this but I think the number 17 might actually be part of a date. Most old tunnel entrances I’ve seen have the year spaced out instead of being straight in the middle. I know it’s a long shot but perhaps it’s 17 something 1790 just a guess. Now I gotta look into this
Well I looked into it and it may just be a single number 17. The earliest train tunnel to ever operate in the United States was made in 1833 called the Staple Bend tunnel. Like I said in my comment above, it was a long shot. Although I still did look into it, like many, not much can be found about this particular tunnel, only that it’s been in disuse for nearly, or over a century due to the land surrounding it.
Should be someplace you could go to find some information about the tunnel
Love stuff like this. Wish someone could provide more info about this tunnel. If i knew where it was maybe i could find and follow the old rail line in Google Earth VR (A favorite pass time of mine). Judging by the size of the tree growing in front of it it must have been disused for at least 100 years or close to it, whatever it was used for.
I’ve been trying to research myself and I’ve not turned up anything as of yet
@@wanderingrailroader4345 did you ever determine whether there was an opening at the other end. If not maybe it was some sort of storage tunnel for some sort of railroad equipment back in the day, considering its proximity to the track and relative narrowness.
@@timcase2494 there is another tunnel opening close to where this is. However I have never been fortunate to be able to stop my train there to check it out. There are multiple tunnels along this line that are abandoned. Many I have never been able to check out, other than passing by train. Some of the tunnels seem very small for any type of modern locomotive to go through. I had heard that a logging company years back in the civil war days had made these tunnels and had their own rail line. These tunnels appear to have been made many years ago. So there may be some truth to it.
@@wanderingrailroader4345 NEW York ONTARIO and Western RAILROAD Had Used This Tunnel Until 1957 !! Than The LINE Went out of BUSINESS !!!!!!!!!!
@@wanderingrailroader4345 I'd believe that tunnel was built back near the Civil War-any time in the late 19th century would fit just fine with what you showed us. I have my doubts about it being built for a logging railroad, though. Logging railroads tended to be low-speed, low-budget operations, and that's not a low-budget tunnel. Reasons: 1. The liner at the end is concrete, not timber. 2. They didn't shy away from digging-probably blasting-through solid rock a few dozen yards in. Sure, the 19th-century folks knew how to do that, but it wasn't cheap by any stretch. 3. If this was Tunnel 17, they had a whole bunch of *other* tunnels on their line, presumably all built to the same kind of standards as this one.
Putting that much money into building a line says to me that they expected to use it for a lot of traffic for a long time, in order to make back the investment. Granted that in the late 19th century people tended to have unrealistic expectations for railroad traffic, but still-those folks were thinking mainline levels of traffic, not a logging road.
Of course, I could be wrong.
This was a New York Ontario and Western RAILROAD Tunnel !!? Hasn't been Used Since 1957 !!!!! When The LINE Went out of Business 😢
I'm not so sure, this is in Kentucky. I had not heard of that railroad before being around here.
Judging on where the train tunnel is at and the way you came out of the woods, most likely you would come off the main line to a switch by the way it looks to me.
I just dont think this was a RR tunnel. The approach is at an odd angle to the adit. The floor of the concrete tunnel is far below the approach grade. The tunnel seems too small height wise. They dont normally concrete a RR tunnel floor.
Hey.... i was wondering if when you drive the train at night if you could honk a little quieter. Thanks! 🤣
If I’m up, everyone else needs to be too!! 😝
By the size of the oak tree in the path of the tunnel... must be close to 150 years
Sweet find...be awesome if you have access to or know someone with a drone to explore deeper, I'm sure there's history about it somewhere...👍👀
Sad part is that it’s hard to find by road, would be hard to get someone close to do just that.
T.y. for responding.. someday maybe...merry christmas...
You as well!!
Very cool, where were you?
Flat Rock, Kentucky
Be awful if someone nicked your loco mate while you were off exploring lol 😂
It looks a bit narrow, and the terrain filled the road bed way too much, to be a train tunnel. Perhaps a pedestrian tunnel? Anyway, great find!
Modern locomotives never went through. Steam is the only thing that’s ever passed through. It’s been abandoned for a long time.
Could have be narrow gauge
Are fhere any live critterd in such
Probably a healthy snake population
Maybe ask Hobo Shoestring to ride thur on that line he might be of help.
Steam engines are my favorite era of railroading.
You get anything done there
What state is this in?
Kentucky
Is there a name in there
Them pusher jobs are almost gone!
They have added pusher jobs in my subdivision
@@wanderingrailroader4345 we lost all of ours to DP. Now trains are stalling lol
Typical railroad! They have done that before only to realize what we already knew, it don’t work. When they made super long trains, they had to have a helper on the rear because they have to be shoved if over 7000 feet
@@wanderingrailroader4345 ours is all grade. Either under power or dynamics. No undulation. We can run big tons South but not much north. Gotta have 10 loads on the head end northbound or it’ll string line.
@@AppalachianRailroader_ I’m working a different subdivision that was not shown on my video. Here there used to be pusher jobs and they were big paying jobs. They cut all those jobs, then made everything extraboard jobs and then cut all the trains in half, running half one day and the other half the next day. Working out of a terminal that used to have 100s of people working in shifts on yard jobs and road jobs. Now I’m one of 6 people. 3 conductors and 3 engineers are left working there.
I bet this once was an old indian village
Do some research and get back to us.
Walk in there silly
I would have had I had better boots and not at work!
I know
Echo echo echo
17
Little china man there