Above: the new model Can-Am in Caryville just looks like Bumblebee the transformer!
Abandoned Railroad Tunnels: Six in One Day
Sunday Jan. 7, 2024
Dana & Kenny Koogler
We've been on one of those drawn out periods of time where we've been doing :
- What needed doing--chores
- What someone else needs or wants--family
- Illness or injury --me with my knees and we've all had the cruds
Sunday was going to be our day to do what we wanted with no kids, grandkids or other obligations.
Saturday evening we set about trying to decide what that would be?
I wanted to tackle the finding of Indian Gap Tunnel and Elk Gap Tunnels. Kenny did too.
I wanted to do this so badly I was concerned I'd not be able to cope if it fell apart.
I hit up friend and fellow bridgehunter/tunnel enthusiast Larry Johnson to see if he could assist us?
He came through in a big way. He also reminded us of the series of five tunnels in a row up in Elk Valley. We invited him to join us, but he had commitments. Maybe another time.
Before we went to bed Kenny and I had put enough research into it to know we could do it successfully. We would go for it!
Sunday morning I let Kenny sleep in. It was rainy again Sunday morning which I hadn't reckoned with. I opened the door for something outside and it was bitterly cold and windy.
Weather be damned. We were going! We packed stuff up and headed to Campbell County.
We parked where Larry suggested and it was perfect. Out of the road, but not trespassing or in anyone's way. We gathered our gear and set off. The sun was trying to come out and the steady drizzle let up. Someone had put My Little Pony on a road sign by the railroad tracks.
Above: purple My Little Pony toy jammed onto a road sign by the tracks.
We started walking down along the side of the tracks in the direction of the abandoned tunnel.
I had no idea how far it would be, but it didn't matter. We would do what need be done to get there. A trail started off down one side of the tracks, but it while it was heading in the right general direction to start off, it turned and veered away from the interstate. We knew the abandoned tunnel lay somewhere between the present day tracks and I-75.
One thing of note on the hike was a stretch of cement like a sidewalk on the west side of the tracks. Perhaps this had to do with access during the construction of the railroad?
Never saw anything like it along a railroad before.
It wasn't long until we could see the current day "tunnel" in the distance. Kenny spotted the old railroad grade in the brush to the east of us. We watched out for any changes. Pretty soon he exclaimed "I see it!" and sure enough.. in the brush on our left was the north portal of the old tunnel! The tunnels we were seeking today are abandoned meaning no trains pass through them for the most part. Some of the lines are not 100% out of commission so we had to be careful. This is part of the Norfolk Southern line and sees a little use from time to time.
We took it seriously and did not fool around the tracks anymore than was necessary to get from point A to point B. We walked the spaces by the tracks instead of on them.
below : A glimpse of what the terrain looks like on the sides of the tracks. Very brushy and thick.
Above: We saw this little structure built into the embankment. I thought it might be a spring house, but it was not. All it contained was rubbish. Old tires, papers, etc.
Above: Railroad crossing without any signal lights or guards.
Below: The first look at the North portal of Indian Gap Tunnel.
Above: North portal with Kenny out of the way. You can see the light at the far end. This tunnel is a little over half mile long. The further we went toward the opposite end the more water we encountered though it was never more than a few inches deep. I got some water in my boots, but it quickly dried out.
Once Kenny spotted the entrance to the tunnel in the brush we headed that way. It was obvious others had visited this spot as well because there was a tracked down path heading to it.
I don't think many people actually walk through it. We saw where rimstone had begun forming in the pools on the tunnel floor. Minerals dissolved from the stone above drip down into the puddles and rimstone settles out making little ruffley edged mini ponds.
Much traffic through here would have been evidenced by the disruption in the forming of this fragile structures. I know our friend Larry visited and went through, but aside from him and we two I doubt any others have traveled this way.
About midway through the tunnel Kenny noticed a large chunk of stone. It was big and quite heavy. Logic tells us that no one carried that and dropped it here. I asked where it came from already suspecting I knew. Kenny pointed the flashlight up and sure enough... there was a matching hole in the tunnel ceiling! Yikes! I hoped no stones would turn loose while we were in here. Not wanting to be bonked in the head by bricks or rocks.
The water was visible glittering at the far end almost from the start of our walk through.
We got about mid way and the water covered the tunnel from edge to edge. The far right was comparatively dry so we hugged that wall. We still had to wade through water that came up over boot tops, but I wasn't turning around over some wet feet or pant legs. I can be heard asking Kenny on the video what he wants to do for the return trip? Go back through the tunnel or walk up the side of the tracks? Once we'd gotten out it was far easier to walk by the tracks.
We finally emerged into the light again out of the south portal. Both ends of this tunnel used to be gated off and inaccessible. The gates on either end have been destroyed and it stands open.
The south end was littered with trash, old tires, a DOT barrel that had fallen down off I-75.
Beside the tunnels south entrance was a gutter that channels rain water down to the entrance and away from the terrain by the top part. This is part of what made that end so soft and muddy.
It was a swamp on that end. The gutter was filled with leaf litter and very slick and steep. We decided while it was the shortest way to the top, it was unwise to attempt it. We went down the former rail grade a bit and worked our way through the brush back over to the current day tracks.
Below: a shot of the tunnel ceiling. It is brick and stone construction, but it appears some have fallen away. It also looks like someone may have tried to patch it in the past.
Above: The bright daylight shines on the water at the south entrance
Below: A look at the south portal of Indian Gap Tunnel.
Water, mud, trash, tires and a highway road crew barrel.
Above: I'm looking up at I-75 south here. It appears that most of the debris here fell from the interstate or blew down here via the wind.
Below: a look at the gutter that carries the water from up top to the base of the old tunnel. I don't think I've ever seen one constructed quite like this before.
Once we had checked out the tunnel on both ends and through it we worked our way over to the tracks again. It gave us an opportunity to inspect the present day "tunnel". It is not a tunnel proper, but a high walled overpass with cross members for support at the top which is open to the air.
I have never seen any railroad crossing constructed like this before either. We noticed it on Google Earth from satellite view. It was good to get to see it in real life to confirm how it is put together. Very odd.
Below is a video of Indian Gap Tunnel. It is a longer than usual video to document the event.
We motored on back to the jeep as quickly as we could along the tracks. It would have been easier cross tie walking, but we tried to stay off the tracks much as possible. We walked the riprap beside them which was slow going. Finally back at the jeep we loaded up and headed to Jacksboro to get some lunch. Once back at the traffic lights in Caryville the weather took another strange turn. It was raining along the interstate and a rainbow formed! It was particularly vibrant and complete. It looked like it was landing on a nearby BP Station.
Below: the BP station at the Rainbow's end!
Lastly for this segment of the write up is the much shorter video of the present day Indian Gap Tunnel.
We made it three miles out to Jacksboro and grabbed a salad at Zaxby's for lunch. We wanted a quick bite so we could get going again. We then got back on I-75 North to the Huntsville exit. We turned here and headed toward Pioneer. The next stop would be an attempt to visit the Elk Gap Tunnel.
Elk Gap Tunnel Attempt #2
Several years ago we hunted up Elk Gap tunnel at Pioneer. It was hot and when we arrived there at the pull off kudzu was snarled over everything. We knew better than to wade through kudzu in snake season. We returned today to try again while the critters are mostly asleep and the vegetation has died back. The problem we finally figured out is trying to approach the tunnel from above the North Portal end. That end is never going to be easy in any season. It began sleeting on us very hard while we were trying to cipher out an approach. We finally said forget it and headed up the road toward the tunnels at Elk Valley. We've figured out since returning home that we can go back and park at the church and make it to the south portal. From there we can just go through to the north portal. We'll try to knock this out this Winter.
Abandoned Tunnel and Railroad Resource Materials
I want to include some resources here before I forget. I do not want to take credit for locating all these cool tunnels. I became aware of them because of other folks travels and willingness to blog about them. Through their sharing photos and descriptions of the trips it piqued our interest and motivated us to look for them. Thomas "Butch" Adkins has one of the coolest blogs with photos on the subject I've run across. He is the most knowledgeable and comprehensive in his travels to visit these tunnels and railroad bridges. I think his site is Blogging the Tunnels.
I subscribe to his blog and consequently I get updates when he writes up a new trip report.
He is a hard act to follow! Thanks my friend for your hard work and willingness to assist others myself included. Matt Murphy is a Facebook buddy who is one of the most talented photographers with a special interest and focus on railroads! Add to that he is a drone photographer! His photos are the best drone photographs I've ever seen. They remind me of model railroad scenes!
Below are some of Matt's drone photos he graciously agreed to let me add to this blog entry.
If you follow him on Facebook you can keep up with his fine work!
Below is a dream shot of the "196 Northbound crossing the New River Trestle"
Below are a couple shots of the train passing through towns.
Above: Matt Murphy's drone photo of the train passing by the depot in Spring City, TN heading south.
Other interesting sites pertain specifically to the rat hole line and its abandoned tunnels. The ones we visited today have no relation to the rat hole line.
Another good one that is about the old Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Rail Line is here if you click the link.
Friend Larry Johnson is another person who is keenly interested in this topic and is a bridge hunter, tunnel hunter. He has some very cool adventures.
Elk Valley Series of Five Abandoned Tunnels
We headed up into Elk Valley above Pioneer in the general direction of the five tunnels. We were able to locate them on Cal Topo. Kenny did 95% of the work on locating these and figuring how to access them. We stopped at a house nearest the tunnels to ask permission to visit and no one came to the door. After a considerable wait it appeared they must not be home or were taking a siesta on a Sunday afternoon. The property where we pulled up was clearly posted private property. The continuation of the lane was not so he decided to chance going further. He parked us by the tracks and we were able to get out and walk from there.
We saw train cars on the same tracks much closer to Huntsville and all of them below Pioneer.
Still we were aware that this line while largely abandoned could still see some use. The tunnel section would be a hard sell to put a train on those tracks if not an outright impossibility. The tunnels are sketchy, but what's worse is the tracks in them. Dirt has fallen from the ceiling or been brought in from outside by someone. We did not notice it on the hike in, but caught it on the way out. The western wall of Tunnel 3 has begun caving in midway through. It has been shored up. I was glad we did not see this on the trip in. I wonder if I'd have had the nerve to continue? Kenny pointed out that he believes the wood chip yard at Huntsville probably makes use of the rail cars and pushes them up the tracks like a siding. I don't think the cars go much further, but that is just a guess based on the conditions we found.
It wasn't long until we came upon the first tunnel. I guessed they probably went from north to south with the numbers climbing as you go south.
Below: first look at Tunnel 5 in the series... south portal
Below: tunnel five from in the middle in the dark.
Below: a closer look at this tunnel entrance. Another blasted through solid rock. It looks tiny like no train could ever possibly go through there, but once again looks are deceiving.
Below: looking out of the tunnel northward in Tunnel 3 you can see three portals from this view. If you click the photo it enlarges to full size giving you a better idea what it looks like and the detail.
Below: south portal of tunnel 3.. this was the one with the blown out western wall . Steel I beams had been placed to shore it up where it was collapsing.
Below: one of the differences we noticed was tunnel 2... the next to last one was the only one which had wall pockets to give a person a place to stand safely out of the way of the train in the tunnel! It reminds me of something in the London underground or Edinboro Scotland.
Above: The first little wall alcove we encountered. Just room for a man to get out of the way of the tracks.
We had erratic weather on this trek. The sleet stopped and started a couple times. In the video I am posting that gives the highlights of the five tunnels you can see a white out where the sleet is coming down so hard! It was a good way to spend a day. We had a lot of satisfaction in finding these cool structures and soaking up some history.
I had gotten all healed up from my bad knees before Christmas. I got sick with a sinus infection and sore throat. The doc put me on antibiotics and prednisone. I got over that and thankfully was done the course of meloxicam for my knees. It was no time until the effects of the meloxicam wore off and the knee problems returned. Today on the return hike I was limping pretty badly. My knees were swollen, bruised,painful and I was having a lot of difficulty putting weight on them or bending the left knee.
I made it back to the jeep and getting off them helped. I dozed part of the way home which helped me to get away from the pain for awhile. I dutifully iced my knees down as ordered by the doctor.
I restarted my meloxicam. I also started raw turmeric root the very next day. It was not as bad as I imagined and seemed a lot more effective than the powdered stuff. I am now able to put weight on my knees and bend the left one a lot more. I'm waiting on an orthopedic consult to get established with that specialist. My New Year in 2024 is not off to the 100% positive start, but I feel sure I'll get better.
Aside from the knee trouble the trip was great!
Below is a video of the series of five tunnels at Elk Valley.
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