Hoosac Tunnel
 |
The Hoosac Tunnel Route |
The
Hoosac Tunnel (also called
Hoosic or
Hoosick Tunnel) is a 4.75-mile-long (7.64 km)
railroad tunnel through the
Hoosac Range, which is an extension of
Vermont's Green Mountains. The tunnel's east portal is in
Florida, Massachusetts (), the west portal is in
North Adams, Massachusetts (). Work began in
1851 and was finally completed in
1875. At the time of completion, it was the second longest tunnel in the world (after the 8.5-mile-long (13.7 km)
Mont Cenis Tunnel through the
French Alps). It was the longest tunnel in
North America until the completion of the
Moffat Tunnel in
1928, and remains the longest transportation tunnel east of the
Rocky Mountains.
The tunnel project was originally proposed in
1819 as a
canal to connect
Boston to
Upstate New York via the
Deerfield River on the east of the
Hoosac Range and the
Hoosic River on the west. That project was shelved, and later reborn as part of the new
Troy and Greenfield Railroad. The tunnel took over 20 years to complete, and cost $21,000,000 by the time of completion. The project was nicknamed 'The Great Bore' by critics of the day, including future
Supreme Court Justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who said he'd like to "wall up a dozen lawyers at one end of the tunnel and put a good fee at the other."
The first chief engineer of the tunnel project was A.F. Edwards. In
1854 the state of
Massachusetts provided $2,000,000 in credit to
Edward Wellman Serrell and Company, which began work in
1855. In
1856 Herman Haupt took over as chief engineer.
The
Western Railroad, which ran a southern route through
Springfield and
Pittsfield, opposed the Hoosac Tunnel and its northern route through the state. They successfully lobbied to block state funding of the tunnel in
1861, which bankrupted Haupt, and temporarily stopped the project. Haupt had excavated 4,250 feet (1,295 m), or about a fifth of the distance at that point. He left in
1861 and became a
Union Army railroad engineer and general in the
American Civil War.
In
1862 the
Troy and Greenfield Railroad defaulted on its loan from the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which foreclosed on the mortgage and took control of the railroad, including the tunnel project. The state sent engineer Charles Storrow to
Europe to study modern tunneling techniques, including the use of
nitroglycerine and compressed air. In
1863 the state restarted the project and made
Thomas Doane the chief engineer.
In
1868 the state congress appropriated 5 million dollars for the completion of the project. Canadian engineer
William Shanly (sometimes spelled Shanley) and his brother Francis took over the project from the state, and remained through the completion of tunnel boring. The final chief engineer was Bernard N. Farren, who took over on
November 19,
1874 and completed the final work, including enlarging sections of the tunnel, reinforcing weak areas with arching, completing drainage systems, and completing the east tunnel facade.
The first train passed through the tunnel on
February 9,
1875. Regular service via the tunnel between
Boston, MA and
Troy, NY began in
1876. The tunnel and Troy and Greenfield Railroad were bought by the
Fitchburg Railroad in
1877. The
Boston and Maine Railroad bought the Fitchburg Railroad in
1900.
The last regularly-scheduled passenger train passed through the tunnel in
1958. Today the tunnel is part of the
Guilford Rail System and is used to transport freight.
Connections to the west
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Western Portal in c. 1910 |
The
Troy and Boston Railroad and its
Southern Vermont Railroad and
Troy and Greenfield Railroad opened in
1859 from
Troy, New York, on the
New York Central Railroad and
Hudson River Railroad, east to
North Adams at the west portal of the tunnel.
The
1863 state buyout of the
Troy and Greenfield Railroad opened the way for competition through the tunnel. The
Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western Railway was organized in
1877 to build from near the
Massachusetts/
Vermont border, where state ownership ended, parallel to the
Troy and Boston Railroad to near
Johnsonville, New York and then west via
Schenectady to
Rotterdam Junction on what became the
New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway in
1880. The line was being planned as a part of the
Delaware and Hudson Company's system, and as part of the
Erie Railway system via the
Delaware and Hudson Company's
Albany and Susquehanna Railroad. East of
Greenfield, the east end of state ownership, the BHT&W would have built its own line to terminal facilities at
Winthrop.
Due to the competition between the two companies, various challenges were made. In late
1878 the T&B attempted to evict the BHT&W from the roadbed of the abandoned
Albany Northern Railroad between
Hart's Falls and
Eagle Bridge. The BHT&W lost that in court, but continued to use the
right-of-way. The case lasted until late
1881, when it was overturned. In May
1879 a
frog war was feared at
Hoosick Junction, where the BHT&W was to cross the T&B's
Troy and Bennington Railroad. In July of that year
Cornelius Vanderbilt, who owned the
New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, acquired a controlling interest in the T&B, threatening to build a branch to
Saratoga Springs unless the BHT&W/D&H alliance was ended. In November an
appeals court ruled that the application to cross the Troy and Bennington was improperly made to the Troy and Boston, and the T&B claimed that the improvements including a stone bridge were forfeit.
The first train ran over the full BHT&W to
Mechanicville, New York on
December 6,
1879, and revenue service began
December 20, with general offices at
North Adams. In
1881 the BHT&W was being planned as part of a larger system west to
Oswego and
Buffalo. That line was not built, but the BHT&W opened an extension west to
Rotterdam Junction on the
New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway. The
New York Central and Hudson River Railroad took over the NYWS&B in
1886, and in
1887 the
Fitchburg Railroad bought both the T&B and the BHT&W, as well at the
Troy and Greenfield Railroad including the tunnel, ending the rivalry.
 |
Profile of Hoosac Mountain |
195 lives were lost during construction, leading to the nickname "The Bloody Pit." Many were lost due to the unstable nature of
nitroglycerine.
One of the bloodiest accidents occurred while digging the tunnel's 1,028-foot (313 m) vertical exhaust shaft, called 'Central Shaft.' On
October 17,
1867, a lighted candle in the
hoist building ignited
naptha fumes which had leaked from a 'Gasometer' lamp, triggering an explosion. The hoist caught fire and collapsed into the shaft. Four men near the top of the shaft escaped, but thirteen men working 538 feet (164 m) below were trapped. The pumps were also destroyed, and the shaft began to fill with water. A worker named Mallory was lowered into the shaft by rope the next day; he was overcome by fumes and reported no survivors.
|
Eastern Portal in c. 1910. The failed first tunnel is at left. |
The tunnel construction project required
excavation of 2 million tons (1,800,000 metric tons) of rock. On
March 16,
1853, "Wilson's Patented Stone-Cutting Machine" (a
tunnel boring machine) was used; it failed after excavating 10 feet (3 m) of rock. Tunnel builders resorted to hand digging, and later used the
Burleigh Rock Drill, one of the first
pneumatic drills. Construction also featured the first large-scale commercial use of
nitroglycerine and electric
blasting caps.
Digging the Central Shaft also allowed workers to open 2 additional faces to excavate: once the shaft was complete in
1870 workers dug outwards from the center to meet the tunnels being dug from the east and west portals. Engineers built a 1,000-foot (305 m)
elevator to hoist the excavated rock from the Central Shaft.
One of the many engineering challenges posed by the project was lining up the four tunnels that were being dug: the east and west portal tunnels, and the two tunnels dug outward from the central shaft. Engineers cleared a path through the forest over the mountain, and strung a straight line from the east to west portals, through "sighting posts" on the east and west peaks of Hoosac Mountain. Repeated
surveys verified the line ran true between the posts, and steel bolts were installed at fixed intervals along the line.
On
December 12,
1872 workers opened the east portal tunnel to the Central Shaft-dug tunnel, which were aligned within nine sixteenths of an inch (1.4 cm), a tremendous engineering achievement at that time. On
November 27,
1873 the remainder of the tunnel was opened to the west portal tunnel.
Lewis Cuyler of the Hoosac Tunnel Museum Society described the project as the 'fountain-head of modern tunnel technology.'
The
American Society of Civil Engineers made the tunnel a
Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in
1975.
Hoosac is an
Algonquian word meaning 'place of stones.'
Online
*
HoosacTunnel.net Historical pictures and statistics*
Hoosac Tunnel Historical Notes*
A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts*
Railroad Extra - Hoosac Tunnel*
Hoosac Tunnel: Abode of the Damned? - Exploration of the tunnelLiterary
*The Story of the Hoosac Tunnel. (March 1882).
The Atlantic monthly,. Volume 49, Issue 293
*The Hoosac Tunnel Tragedy (November 16, 1867).
The Defiance Democrat (Ohio), p. 1.
*Hampson, Rick (August 24, 1980). Tunnel a Wonder of the 19th Century.
Chicago Daily Herald. p. 42.
*Fighting for Eastern Traffic,
New York Times January 2, 1879 page 5
*Railroad Rioting Feared,
New York Times May 25, 1879 page 1
*The Hoosac Tunnel Route,
New York Times July 5, 1879 page 1
*Railroad Methods,
New York Times November 26, 1879 page 1
*Railroad Management,
New York Times December 7, 1879 page 1
*First Train Over the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western,
New York Times December 21, 1879 page 2
*A Great Railroad Project,
New York Times April 11, 1881 page 1
*Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western Victory,
New York Times October 5, 1881 page 2
*A Pinprick of Light, The Troy and Greenfield Railroad and its Hoosac Tunnel, by Carl R. Byron. The New England Press, Shelburne, Vt. 1975. ISBN 1-881535-17-7
