Abandoned RR Tunnels in NYS

JBlaisdell wrote:There is a pole line running along the top of the tunnel. The old alignment is visible east of the parking area above the southern overpass. Last I knew, the bore was still open.

I walked it this fall. Yes, it's still open. I didn't notice a pole line, although one could have been there. What I did notice, though, was a waterfall!! There is a daylight hole about 300' from the south end of the tunnel, with water pouring down it. There is some debris on the floor of the tunnel, indicating that it's still shedding rock. It's very very pretty, and there are no signs discouraging you from walking through the tunnel from the RR station parking lot.

My photos of the tunnel: http://www.flickr.com/photos/russnelson ... 131025690/

The Ulster & Delaware had a tunnel, in addition to an S curve and some wicked cool bridges. It's on the Trolley Museum of New York side of CSX.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russnelson/5087933317/

^Thanks, Russ. I've never been there.

well done on the new hamburg shots

Visited NYO&W South Fallsburg yesterday. It's a short walk to the west portal through the woods from a public road. Wore my muck boots, which is a good thing, because there's a roof collapse which blocks the flow of water through the tunnel. About 10" of much has accumulated between the portal and the rockfall. Stepped out of one of my boots! Nearly put my foot down into the muck, but neither me nor my boot got wet. Clambered over the roof-fall (five layers of brick behind two sheets of metal lining. Both entrances to the tunnel are lined for about 40'. There's a couple of side-wall collapses. They used this funny system of piers which hold up the side walls. I'm guessing that the tunnel was dug through multiple strata, the bottom of which was softer than the top. So they constructed these piers to help hold up the side walls. Further to the east is a 4' high pile of roof material. Close to the east portal is one strip of metal lining collapsed with a brickfall. The entire tunnel has running water. The west portal date stone says "1886, C.G.Randall". There is no date stone on the east portal.

Now, before anybody gives me crap for going into an "unsafe" tunnel, consider several things: 1) that's 54 years worth of rockfall, 2) it could be anywhere from 6 to several dozen falls, 3) even if you were in the tunnel when rock fell, it's a thousand feet long, and the longest rockfall is 20' long, and 4) I drove 700 miles last weekend. Which was the more dangerous thing to do? People underestimate the danger of common risks, and overestimate the danger of rare risks.

Gimme until after lunch, but photos will be here http://www.flickr.com/photos/russnelson/tags/fallsburg

what beautiful stone work on the O&W tunnel at South Fallsburgh !

Years ago as a teenager I hiked through Highview Tunnel but would not recommend it, it was a scary experience.

Never did locate South Fallsburgh or for that matter get to Northfield up north of Walton.

Did you get down to the east end of Fallsburg, Russ?

Longer walk but easy to find. All one has to do is follow the ATV trail that bypasses the tunnel.

Several years ago The historical society in Sidney Center arranged a tour of the Northfield tunnel and I got to walk through it. The right of way to the tunnel was basically a boulder field at the time so walking to it was fairly difficult. Volunteers had placed lights through the entire bore and boards over some of the flooded areas. There were tour guides taking groups through, giving some history along the way. It was a memorable event and quite well attended.

I'm not sure I could make that walk today, and I'd bet conditions are even rougher. Access to both ends is over private land - we had to walk through someone's yard to get to the right of way - so you can't get to it without special permission.

Just North of Port Henry, Tunnel Ave. are two short abandoned D & H tunnels. After WW1. the ROW was moved closer to

the lake bypassing both tunnels.

TB Diamond wrote:Did you get down to the east end of Fallsburg, Russ?

Longer walk but easy to find. All one has to do is follow the ATV trail that bypasses the tunnel.

Yes, it's a short 1000' walk from the west end.

BTW, I forgot to tag the photos. They're tagged now so the link above will work. I did some light painting inside the tunnel, so I have some good shots.

Cactus Jack wrote:what beautiful stone work on the O&W tunnel at South Fallsburgh !

Years ago as a teenager I hiked through Highview Tunnel but would not recommend it, it was a scary experience.

Never did locate South Fallsburgh or for that matter get to Northfield up north of Walton.

Yep, the stone work is beautiful. Too bad the coal exhaust decayed the bricks, to the point where they fell in two locations. South Fallsburg is EASY to find and there are no barriers or no trespassing signs to feel guilty about walking past. Just go to Lake Street in South Fallsburg and head east looking for Old Country Road. Turn left, park right, get out and walk right. If your feet start getting wet, you're in the right place. Recommend 12" waterproof boots and three sources of light.

Highview Tunnel has gone through three periods: one, in which the tunnel was relatively undisturbed, with some rockfall and water. Two, in which some knucklehead thought it would be a good idea to knock down the west portal with an excavator, which blocked the water from exiting and filled it as high as nine feet. Three, in which NYS-DOT had to inspect the tunnel to see if it would support the weight of an enhanced NY-17. They got most of the water out, but it is reportedly three feet deep in places.

Question: did you see any evidence of use of a tunnel boring machine? I've seen one rumor where they met in the middle, and one of them was simply driven into the side of the tunnel so the other could pass it by and exit. That would be a pretty big hole in the side of the tunnel.

JWKessler wrote:Several years ago The historical society in Sidney Center arranged a tour of the Northfield tunnel and I got to walk through it.

Please ... if anybody hears of any organized tunnel tours, please announce them here. I would love to walk through the Northfield tunnel ... or visit the Hawk Mountain portal.

^Is there really a Hawk Mountain portal?

Or is that just a rumor?

Any pics online?

Earlier in this thread it was noted that construction on NYS Rt. 17 back in the early 1960s totally destroyed one of the Hawk Mountain Tunnel portals and buried the other under tons of fill.

Oh dear. I thought that one was destroyed but the other one was still open but on private property. Well, it's kind of romantic to think about a buried tunnel ... open from end to end but completely inaccessible.