Thursday, September 19, 2013

A Historic Railroad Tunnel

(This picture can be enlarged by clicking on it.  Clicking a second time will make it full-sized.)

This photo was taken near the entrance of the Western & Atlantic Railroad Tunnel in Tunnel Hill, Georgia.  Construction began on the tunnel in 1848, and the first train passed through it on May 9, 1850.  The tunnel, 1,477 feet long, was dug by hand.  It was fascinating to see the old bricks and stones lining the tunnel, as well as the soot from the old locomotives on the ceiling of the tunnel.

42 comments:

Amazing wonders in my life said...

Wow... loved it

eileeninmd said...

Cool shot, George!

Anonymous said...

That's a very pretty photo.

Pallavi said...

'There's always a light at the end of the tunnel'. Great picture george !

Hilda said...

It is just amazing to come upon historical engineering sites like this. I bow to all those men who dug out this tunnel.

Love the moss on the old bricks.

Elizabeth Edwards said...

so neat. is that moss? the green area? ( :

MadSnapper said...

i like the details and textures of the stones and bricks.. and of course the tunnel with the light at the end of it

Busy Bee Suz said...

That is really cool; love that the hand-work has stood the test of time.

rainfield61 said...

If the tunnel grows mustache, that must be very long, touching the floor.

EG CameraGirl said...

Looks like the tunnel was just wide enough for the trail. I agree with Sandra that the wall's texture is wonderful.

Karin said...

Hats off and high five to the tunnel builders! And the lights in this tunnel are still on!

Small City Scenes said...

Wonderful. It just amazes me how things were done with the technology of the day (by hand). And that so much is still standing and today's buildings seem to last only so long and down they come. MB

Jeevan said...

Absolutely marvelous! Can’t stop wonderful what a tough job it must be digging with hands. Thanks for this photo

Ruth Hiebert said...

I can only imagine the long hours of hard work that went into the making of this tunnel.

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

It's a super shot. I cannot imagine how hard people must have worked to create this and now there are no tracks. How time has changed.

♥ Łucja-Maria ♥ said...

Welcome to GRegore!
Tunnel, numbering 160 years. historic and very beautiful.
Gregore, thank you. Thanks to you I could learn about a very interesting subject.
Greetings.
Lucia

Ginny Hartzler said...

Well, can you walk through or drive through? I would think no cars, so do they let you walk?

LV said...

Those are not my favorite places.

Teamgsquare said...

Nice to see a old tunnel that was built manually. Wonderful capture.

Linda said...

Neat! Reminds me of the Paw Paw Tunnel.

amanda said...

Wow! These manual labor structures amaze me.
The green & texture are fantastic.
Is this part of a bike trail now?

Indrani said...

Wow! Excellent perspective!

troutbirder said...

Wow! That's a really neat picture. Kinds of spooky too. I had know idea they dug train tunnels way back then....

Rajesh said...

Great view of the historical tunnel.

Linda P said...

It was good that the light condition at the entrance made it possible to capture those textures in the stones and bricks and you were able to show the way through the tunnel at the same time. Old engineering works dug by hand like this always amaze me.

A Lady's Life said...

Gosh I guess they took the rails off.
Do they use it for anything?

My Unfinished Life said...

having worked in railways sector for some time now, I am so fascinated by the history of railways...this is an interesting shot and info!!

http://www.myunfinishedlife.com

Vineeta Yashsavi said...

Really a historic shot...

diane b said...

They sure worked hard in those days to build a tunnel.

Scott Law said...

Thought I'd pay a visit to some old friends and see how they are doing. I took a peek through some of your recent posts and it looks like you're up to your same old tricks, which I'm happy to see. Sometimes it's nice to come back for a visit.

Unknown said...

I love old stuff like that and went on one in AZ a few years back, heard they are closing it down now too. Sad. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Janie said...

That's an interesting bit of history. Amazing that a tunnel so long was dug by hand.

Amelia said...

Hi George, that's a very spectacular picture. Thanks for sharing the introduction of the Railroad Tunnel.

Have a great week ahead.

Unknown said...

this is pretty amazing!

curlypurplepig.blogspot.com

Krishna/കൃഷ്ണ said...

beautiful photos... is it still using...

thanks

Ash said...

Nice shot - I like the light and the textures!

Haddock said...

Can't imagine, they built a tunnel way back in 1848 where technology was not so advanced. Its sheer will power.

Linda said...

I just read that the old RR tunnel near Crozet, Virginia is going to be opened to bikers and hikers. It was built in 1858.

MastHoliday said...

Great capture, George!

Twilight Man said...

That's over 100 years ago! The Americans were so advanced.

Andrea said...

This can be scary during earthquakes! I might get claustrophobic here.

Betty Manousos said...

what a lovely shot! you did take it at nice angle.