BO - Tunnel No. 6
Photos
West Portal
Photo taken by Sherman Cahal in February 2017
View this photo at bridgestunnels.com
BH Photo #378768
Brief History
Written by Sherman CahalThe Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) Wheeling-Pittsburgh Subdivision is a partially abandoned railroad between Wheeling, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Wheeling, Pittsburgh & Baltimore Railroad (WP&B) was incorporated on August 5, 1887 as the successor to the Hempfield and Baltimore & Ohio Short Line railroads.
The origination of the WP&B started at the incorporation of the Hempfield Railroad on May 15, 1850, which was projected to run between Wheeling and Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The railroad was constructed from Wheeling east to Washington, a distance of 32 miles, by 1857. The Hempfield was sold at foreclosure in February 1857 and reorganized as the WP&B on January 15, 1872.
For much of the 20th century, the B&O from Glenwood Yard in Pittsburgh south to Washington and west to Benwood Yard at Wheeling was operated as the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Subdivision. The route was extremely congested with traffic from steel mills and coal mines that dotted the region.
By the 1970’s, many of the coal mines had closed and by the 1980’s, many of the local steel mills had been idled or abandoned. Instead of a line full of trains, the B&O had just two through movements each way per day and a local switcher that served local industries from Pittsburgh to Washington.
In November 1985, the B&O made the decision to abandon the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Subdivision west of Washington to Wheeling. A section was left intact from Taylorstown east to Washington for car storage, and the segment from Washington north to Glenwood Yard was left in daily use.
Facts
- Overview
- Abandoned tunnel on Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
- Location
- Washington County, Pennsylvania
- Status
- Derelict/abandoned
- History
- Tunnel No. 6 is an abandoned tunnel along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Wheeling-Pittsburgh Subdivision west of Washington, Pennsylvania.
- Railroad
- - Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (BO)
- Design
- Tunnel
- Also called
- B&O - Finney Tunnel
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +40.15966, -80.31158 (decimal degrees)
40°09'35" N, 80°18'42" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/558626/4445704 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Washington West
- Inventory number
- BH 75641 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Comments
Sherman,at the end of the line near Claysville i saw a tunnel via satellite imagery.Might be worth checking out if it's not already on Bridgehunters.
Thank you! I have not yet completed the accompanying article. There are many more tunnels left to photograph on this route.
Nice find! Photographing tunnels is addictive.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/pa/washington/bh75641/
This tunnel is still considered active under ICC filings. CSX has not yet applied for abandonment for this stretch up to PA 221. After 221 to Crother's Station, it is owned by a small railroad company owned by CSX and still considered active. Tunnel 6 is also called the Finney Tunnel (name given by the Hempfield Railroad. This stretch will hopefully eventually become part of the Claysville National Pike Trail soon. Still working out funding to purchase the rest of the line into Lincoln Hill.