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Blue Ridge Tunnel
Photos
General View Of Northeast End Of Tunnel
Photo taken for the Historic American Engineering Record
View photos at Library of Congress
BH Photo #301164
Video
The Tunnel The Tunnel is a new 35-minute documentary film about the creation and the re-creation of the Blue Ridge Railroad Tunnel. In the 1850s, Irish immigrants dug this nearly mile-long tunnel. Many of them were maimed or even died. The story also examines the role of enslaved Black railroad workers. In 1944 the tunnel was closed. But in 2020, it was re-opened to the public as a remarkable historic site and tourist attraction. American Focus Films |
Description
The Blue Ridge tunnel was the longest tunnel in the United States upon completion. It is also the first tunnel in the U.S. driven without vertical shafts. / The Blue Ridge Railroad, 17 miles in length, originally connected the terminus of the Louisa Railroad near Blair Park with the town of Waynesboro.-- Historic American Engineering Record
The tunnel has now been reopened as a trail for pedestrians. It passes under Rockfish Gap, Appalachian Trail, US-250, I-64, and Skyline Drive.
The parallel replacement tunnel, built in 1944, carries CSX and Amtrak trains today.
Facts
- Overview
- Tunnel under Rockfish Gap on pedestrian trail
- Location
- Rockfish Gap, Nelson County, Virginia
- Status
- Open to pedestrians
- History
- Built 1858; abandoned 1944; reopened for pedestrians 2020
- Builder
- - Claudius Crozet
- Railroads
- - Blue Ridge Railroad (BR)
- Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O; CO)
- Design
- Tunnel
- Dimensions
-
Total length: 4,237.0 ft. (0.8 mi.)
Deck width: 16.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 20.0 ft.
- Also called
- Claudius Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +38.03094, -78.85416 (decimal degrees)
38°01'51" N, 78°51'15" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/688330/4211420 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Waynesboro East
- Elevation
- 1580 ft. above sea level
- Inventory number
- BH 63583 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- December 29, 2022: New photos from Dylan Clarke
- April 25, 2022: Updated by Roger Deschner: Tunnel now open to pedestrians; added video; added many categories
- December 17, 2014: Photo imported by Dave King
- October 12, 2014: Added by Dave King
Sources
- Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
- HAER VA-2 - Blue Ridge Railroad, Blue Ridge Tunnel, U.S. Route 250 at Rockfish Gap, Afton, Nelson County, VA
- Roger Deschner - rogerdeschner [at] gmail [dot] com
- Claudius Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel Foundation
- Wikipedia
- Blue Ridge Tunnel • VISIT NELSON COUNTY
- Dylan Clarke
© Copyright 2021, Historic Bridge Foundation and contributors.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/va/nelson/blue-ridge-tunnel/
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/va/nelson/blue-ridge-tunnel/
Blue Ridge tunnel has been preserved.
https://blueridgetunnel.org
https://www.nelsoncounty.com/blue-ridge-tunnel/