Trains Sometimes Scrape The Rock Walls in the Cumberland Gap Railroad Tunnel Because it's so Narrow скачать в хорошем качестве

Trains Sometimes Scrape The Rock Walls in the Cumberland Gap Railroad Tunnel Because it's so Narrow

www.HistoryInYourOwnBackyard.com info@HistoryInYourOwnBackyard.com 812-623-5727 So in 1886 a group of Tennessee investors organized the Powell’s Valley Railway with their sites set to build a rail line from Knoxville. Tennessee going North to Cumberland Gap. That same year the line was sold to the Knoxville, Cumberland Gap and Louisville Railroad. At that time they dug a tunnel under Cumberland Gap to Middlesboro, Kentucky. The grade in the tunnel peaked in the center meaning as the trains traveled in from either side, they would make a slight climb and then once past center, they would be on a downhill grade. Unfortunately this design would trap smoke and heat in the center of the tunnel from the steam locomotives. I’ve read that in the late 1800s a passenger train was making its way through the tunnel when it derailed near the center. Unfortunately many of the passengers in one of the cars died from suffocation. After that incident, the passenger trains would stop at either end of the tunnel and unload passengers who would take wagons over the gap to the train waiting on the other side of the mountain. Even the engineers didn’t like entering the tunnel back in the day and would move their locomotives to the back end of the train where they would push the cars through the 3741 foot long tunnel far enough so that a locomotive waiting at the other end of the tunnel could hook up and pull the train through. Today the trains must keep a slow but steady pace going through the tunnel. If they go too fast they can derail, too slow and the diesel fumes could overtake the cab. After the two tunnel collapses in 1894 and 1896 the tunnel was completely rehabbed in 1897. I’m told that this is one of the most dangerous tunnels in the country where trains sometimes will scrape the inner rock wall as they maneuver their way through! Back around 2015 an engineer for Norfolk Southern shot video of his train going through the tunnel at night entering from the Virginia side and exiting on the Kentucky side. At one point you can hear the train scraping the rock wall! It takes the train about 4 minutes to travel through the 3/4 mile long tunnel. I was unable to track down the man who shot the video to get permission to use his film in this documentary so I included the link in the video text below. I highly recommend you view this video. It’s flat out scary as hell! If you have ever been through the entire tunnel by train or by foot, let me know in the comments below. GPS Location: 36º36'05.3"N 83º40'14.8"W Link for other history videos in Virginia: https://historyinyourownbackyard.com/... 16 Tunnel videos:    • Tunnels   78 Train videos:    • Trains   Video featuring a train going through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel:    • Large train tight tunnel. Train scrapes th...