CN - East Dubuque Rail Tunnel
Facts
- Overview
- Tunnel under hill with the north portal serving as the lead to east approach to the Dubuque Rail Bridge on CN (former IC) Railway
- Location
- East Dubuque, Jo Daviess County, Illinois
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Originally built by the Illinois Central Railway in 1868
- Railroads
- - Canadian National Railway (CN)
- Illinois Central Railroad (IC; ICG (1972-1988))
- Design
- Tunnel
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +42.49688, -90.64670 (decimal degrees)
42°29'49" N, 90°38'48" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/693375/4707630 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Dubuque South
- Land survey
- T. 29 N., R. 2 W., Sec. 19
- Inventory number
- BH 47789 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- December 12, 2018: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch
- May 22, 2018: Updated by Clark Vance: Added category "Curved"
- May 21, 2018: New photos from John Marvig
- April 29, 2014: Photo imported by Luke Harden
- January 10, 2013: New photos from John Marvig
- April 26, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Illinois Central Railroad", "Canadian National Railway", "Railroad"
- April 26, 2012: New photos from Steve Conro
- January 21, 2011: Added by Nathan Morton
Sources
- Nathan Morton - morton890 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Steve Conro - sconro [at] yahoo [dot] com
- John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
- DUNLEITH AND DUBUQUE BRIDGE - Encyclopedia Dubuque - Local history with details.
- Melissa Brand-Welch - melissabrandwelch [at] msn [dot] com
Comments
The bridge information is in the track chart. The swing span was constructed 1892, and the remainder was constructed in 1899. The tunnel dates to the construction of the original rail line and bridge. The spans from the original bridge were later relocated around the area, even reaching as far as Mississippi. I can upload the track chart for the tunnel and bridge later.
Since this tunnel was built before the bridge wouldn't that make the bridge older,John?That's what I'm thinking.
The date Clark provides isn’t surprising either. I never really had an estimate for the tunnel, especially because one portal appears to date from the late 1890s or early 1900s. But the tunnel being original to the rail line does make sense. Thanks Clark for finding that info!
John,thanks for answering me about the tunnel but I think the tunnel is older than what you estimate.I read the article Clark posted and saw an older date from when the bridge was opened for traffic along with the tunnel I'm guessing.Anyway,this is one old tunnel!
Some info from Encyclopedia Dubuque:
http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=DUNLEITH_...
It appears the tunnel was built when the original bridge was with some of the stone mined going into the bridge piers.
I’m not sure how much CN is going to be willing to help. I haven’t come across any IC blueprints before either. Normally, the IC charts are very well put together, complete with dates. I’ll search through a couple more and see what I come up with. A date of 1899 wouldn’t surprise me however.
Thanks John for responding.Would CN or Illinois Central know when it was built or who built the tunnel being that if Illinois Central is still in business?Looks like an old tunnel.
George,
The track chart I have gives a total length of 851’. No build date was given, but it may date back to the first Mississippi River crossing here; but also may have been built in 1899 when the crossing was rebuilt
I have a couple of questions.How long is this tunnel and when was it built?Looks like a very interesting tunnel being that it's curved.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/il/jo-daviess/east-dubuque-rail-tunnel/
Thanks John for clearing that up.
Just wondering about the dates.