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BNSF - Flathead Tunnel

Lincoln County, Montana

Photo 

Eastbound Empire Builder Enters Flathead Tunnel

This is the south end (west end on the railroad) of BNSF Railway's Flathead Tunnel. It is the third-longest railroad tunnel in North America, and second longest in the United States, measuring 7 miles in length. Stryker, MT

Photo by Loco Steve

License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

View this photo on Flickr

BH Photo #316101

Map 

Description 

Seven-mile tunnel built by Morrison-Knudsen for the Great Northern Railroad as part of a line relocation around the Libby Dam, which flooded the original alignment along the Kootenai River. Construction began in 1968 and was completed in 1970 when the Burlington Northern took over GN operations. Now part of BNSF's Northern Transcon and is used by Amtrak's Empire Builder twice a day.

Facts 

Overview
Tunnel on BNSF Kootenai River Subdivision
Location
Lincoln County, Montana
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1970
Builder
- Morrison-Knudsen Co. of Boise, Idaho
Railroads
- Amtrak (AMTK)
- BNSF Railway (BNSF)
- Burlington Northern Railroad (BN)
- Great Northern Railway (GN)
Design
Tunnel
Dimensions
Total length: 37,012.8 ft. (7.0 mi.)
Also called
BN - Flathead Tunnel
Approximate latitude, longitude
+48.48241, -114.94895   (decimal degrees)
48°28'57" N, 114°56'56" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
11/651563/5371951 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Bowen Lake
Inventory number
BH 66008 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Amtrak (536)
BNSF Railway (1,506)
Built 1970 (121)
Built during 1970s (942)
Burlington Northern Railroad (461)
Great Northern Railway (360)
Lincoln County, Montana (12)
Montana (802)
 Morrison-Knudsen Co. (11)
Open (39,882)
Over a mile long (301)
Owned by railroad (12,423)
Railroad (15,414)
Total length over 2500 feet (916)
Tunnel (1,310)

Update Log 

  • February 14, 2015: Added by Ian Martin

Sources 

  • Ian Martin

Comments 

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