Frisco - Meramec Highlands Tunnel
Facts
- Overview
- Closed tunnel under Sunset Hill on the Frisco Railroad at Kirkwood
- Location
- St. Louis County, Missouri
- Status
- Closed with the entrances boarded up and the inside partially filled
- History
- Built 1883; bypassed in 1922; tracks removed 1929
- Railroad
- - St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (SLSF; Frisco)
- Design
- Tunnel
- Dimensions
-
Span length: 475.0 ft.
Total length: 475.0 ft.
- Also called
- Frisco - Sunset Hill Tunnel
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +38.56489, -90.44846 (decimal degrees)
38°33'54" N, 90°26'54" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/722305/4271580 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Kirkwood
- Inventory number
- BH 22649 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- June 28, 2016: New photos from John Marvig
- June 22, 2016: Updated by John Marvig: Added information
- February 28, 2014: New photos from Jack Schmidt
- March 29, 2009: New photo from Nathan Morton
- January 29, 2007: Posted photos from Nathan Morton
Sources
- Nathan Morton - morton890 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Jack Schmidt - jjturtle [at] earthlink [dot] net
- John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
Very frustrating that there is not an access back to it anymore. There are several reports of a trail back to it, which is clearly gone. Looks like I will be doing some door knocking.
I cannot provide any instructions on how to access the tunnel as it appears to be on private property (the old cut seems to empty out onto a residential cul-de-sac at one end) but Google Earth's "fake 3D" actually did a good job showing where the portals are... hopefully the attached is of use.
Anyone have any clue how to get back to this tunnel in 2016? I will be in the area later this week, and would like to invest some time into this structure. Thanks!
More history:
hey! I found the tunnel
re-open it so the public can see it
I NEED A MAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Could someone tell me exactly where the tunnel is?
I used to live in a house along Big Bend. At the time we lived there our back yard ran right into PONCA TRAIL. My brothers & I ruled this whole area from the Tunnel to the quarry & everything in between. There were trails all around the tunnel & we used to go in the east side (it was a broken fence then) to the brick wall at the west end. At this time it was not filled with mud. There was a lot of trash & old railroad spikes but other than that we could get to the other end. along the way were these slots in the walls about the size of a door. When the tunnel was in use these were for unlucky folks that were in the tunnel when a train came. You would just stand in these door ways & cover your ears. The sound would have been deafening. At the west end there is also this portion of the wall on the outside of the tunnel that had been knocked down. Through this hole we would climb to see a sort of shaft that led to the inside of the tunnel near the ceiling. Also at the west end the wall had caved in. I also remember piles of what we thought was dirt, I realize now that it was probably bat guano. Of course we didn't even think to take pictures & we assumed it would be there forever untouched. I recently went back to the area & I was shocked to see all that has been done to the area.
In a unrelated note: My brother & I were friends with a kid whose family lived in the General Store house. He used to tell us of the outlaw who left a little something behind in the back yard. We thought he was full of it.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/mo/st-louis/highlands-tunnel/
Got back to the tunnel with ease. A small woodchip path leads back to the east end of the structure.