RR Tunnels

[caver]

I noticed WR is looking for RR tunnels per the home page. RR tunnels are hard to find on a topo map but there are some clues. Usually the tunnel is represented by
two dashed lines (like a jeep road).
The program I use is ExpertGPS which can toggle
from topo to aeriel photos. Look for areas were the topography goes up and the RR line goes right through it.
If any of you are ever in Southern IL there is an abandoned tunnel next to the town of Tunnel Hill.
It's now a bike trail and there is a parking area next to the few houses in Tunnel HIll. The tunnel is a short walk south of there. A nice trestle is about two miles south on the trail so bring your bicycle.



Another active tunnel is farther East on another line.
Drive and park here.
http://topozone.com/map.asp?z=16&n=4154 ... ayer=DRG25
Walk West a short distance until you come to a narrow strip off open field the goes south. Look for a brown fiberglass trail sign and continue on down a trail
among some very large and scenic rocks.
The head of the tunnel is at
N37 31.456
W088 41.837

GPS format D,M.M

A buddy told me about this tunnel a couple years ago.
Someone had a geocache there last time I visited.
If you are lucky a train will come through while there.
The tunnel is about 1.2 miles long according to
map measurements.
The trail down to the tunnel is on Forest Service land.
Like I said, this is an active track so stay out of the tunnel.
I may post some other info about RR tunnels when I have more time.

[youthsonic]

The only flaw to this theory is the fact that the USGS removes items from its TOPO maps that are considered no longer in use and dangerous, including mines, quarries and tunnels. Thats the reason most people keep several iterations of the maps from different decades. Once you've located something from a map say from 1900 or so, you can then compare the same area with a current map and deduce the fact that it is abandoned due to the fact that it no longer shows up.

[Willard]

Most topo maps haven't been updated since the 1960s 1970s or 1980s in most cases. This means that you can look at railroad routs on them that were around when the map was printed and aren't around now and can still find lots of stuff... it's pretty sweet.

[caver]

They will usually show the old railroad grade.
The topo maps are often quite old themselves.
1950-1980
I've found several just by following the old grade
on a scanned topo map online.
They won't say TUNNEL or anything,,,that would be too easy.
Very time consuming
but I've been very successful.
I've been to mines out west that were last worked in the late 1800's and they are still on a topo.

Well I should have gone exploring today but I have
a few more limbs to trim
away from the house......back to work.

[Kit]

you guys amaze me with all that you know sometimes

[Mindscape]

Another thing to look for on topo maps concerning railroad tunnels is the grading of the land, whether the railroad itself is marked or not. Railroads require what is considered an extremely slight grade, even less than is required for cars. That's why a highway can go traipsing up and down the sides of a mountain, and the railroad loops as best it can through passes, then blows the hell out of the mountain so it can get through it.

When looking for railroad lines on topo maps, the telltale signs are fairly easy to find. There will be a series of long, usually straight fingers of lightly sloping ground and cuts into higher ground which generally look like they have nothing to do with the surrounding topography. Further, they all tend to line up, so it's reasonably easy to trace the route the railroad takes. The only problem is that this doesn't really work on flat ground, since the traces disappear because they're not needed. In the greater Ozarks area, though, and particularly through northwestern Arkansas, they should be really easy to trace.

Looking for tunnels would probably be most productive in Arkansas. The terrain's bad enough that it would probably need them in a couple of places, and there doesn't seem to be a whole ton of railroad traffic through there anymore, though there used to be back when there was a lot of that going on. When looking for tunnels, find the traces of a railroad track and follow it along. If it suddenly seems to have just randomly teleported itself through a mountain, draw a straight line between the points on either side of it, and you've probably found your tunnel.

[caver]

So about a year ago I was looking for a mine
in Idaho and noticed an abandoned grade.
I start tracing it out and it eventually heads over a mountain range.
It actually had tunnel noted on the topo map.
So later that summer while in the area my dad and I paid it a visit. Here is the truck after after we drove up the very rough approach.
The entrance is almost filled in.



Inside looking out.

I think I have better shots on slide film. I also believe I left my flashes at home on this trip. We were running out of time to get to our next destination and never did try to reach the other side. There was a collapse that appeared to fill the tunnel up. We dropped my camper off down the road and I believe I left my lights in the camper. All I had was a photon key chain light.

[White Rabbit]

That's frickin' cool as hell, caver. Thanks for sharing it.

[Willard]

Dude! That reminds me of the old abandoned railroad tunnels and railroad grades going to the old mines in the Leadville/Buena Vista Area of Colorado! Freakin' awsome!

[ze_beeved]

there is an abandoned railroad tunnel I believe in the raytown area(I can't remember, I went with my dad when I was very young - he's the original urban explorer in the family) It's part of the old rock island tracks.If I remember right, it's on Brickyard rd. Which brings up something else I never even thought about. It's named brickyard rd because there used to be an old brick factory along it. Take old noland south across 350 about half a mile until you come across brick yard road. turn right until you hit the tracks. I think the tunnel is north of there. The old brick factory I believe was on the south side of that road. Sorry for going off on a tangent...

[David Keetz]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!
THE TUNNEL HAS ORBS IN IT!!!!!!!! SPIRITS!!!!


sorry....i will never stop making fun of those people..
anyway.that's really freaking cool. That tunnel entrance will one day completely be hidden and nobody will know it's there......except for you

[thetrio]

Hey Beav we should go look for it this weekend. If it ever stops raining.

[Chillindave]

What state is this in?

[thetrio]

Missouri around the Kansas City area. I did a google satellite search of the area and it looks like there is an path that used to be RR tracks.

[Willard]

The Tunnel in the pictures says in the caption it's in Idaho...