Railroad tunnel

[larrym]

Am I the only one who did not know about the railroad tunnel under the river?

[vetalalumni]

Was, or is there still, an under-the-river tunnel to Zug Island?

[1KielsonDrive]

Was, or is there still, an under-the-river tunnel to Zug Island?

Never............

[texorama]

Am I the only one who did not know about the railroad tunnel under the river?

Maybe you could post a link that tells us more about it.

[jcole]

Am I the only one who did not know about the railroad tunnel under the river?

I don't think you're the ONLY one, but maybe one of the few.

[larrym]

If I had known I would probably have gotten in trouble, I was quite adventerous and considered myself a great urban explorer when I was young and foolish. There is video of a train coming out of it on youtube and if you look at google maps you can find the other end of it in windsor.

[jcole]

It's pretty cool to think that they built that and the car tunnel so long ago, and they still are in use.

[Andrew in Windsor]

The rail tunnel was built in 1910. The car Tunnel in 1929, opening in 1930.

[larrym]

The last time I was through the car tunnel I swore it would, indeed, be the last time. Between the claustophobia and the water running down the walls, that was it for me!

[Hornwrecker]

There are a few photos of the tunnel, and some of its construction, at the LOC's website, Detroit Publishing Co collection.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/...p/~ammem_BrCi:

[[If this link doesn't work, then browse by subject > tunnels: http://rs6.loc.gov/detroit/dethome.html)

[fryar]

My dad worked with a guy once who told a very similar story when it was mentioned I was living in Detroit. His brother and father had successfully immigrated to the US, and he ended up making his way here via the tunnel.

[Russix]

http://www.detroitchamber.com/region...el-partnership

[douglasm]

I believe the current tunnel does allow for double stacks, doesn't it? The problem is with the newer oversized containers that won't double stack through the tube. There was a thread a couple years ago about a train with oversized containers that didn't fit.........well, they DID fit, but when they got to Windsor they were a bit smushed.

[Detroitnerd]

Yeah, they bored out the top of one of the tunnels. But it still can't accommodate double-stacked oversizes.

This article is eight years old but tells the story as it stood then.

http://www2.metrotimes.com/arts/story.asp?id=4555

[1KielsonDrive]

An old picture. One of my highrailing trips into the tunnel. Of course, all pre - 09/11.

[marcwigle]

An old picture. One of my highrailing trips into the tunnel. Of course, all pre - 09/11.

Someone couldn't spell "boundary". ;-)

[1KielsonDrive]

Someone couldn't spell "boundary". ;-)

It might be the French-Canadian spelling. Or, maybe a train was rumbling in their direction and they hurried to get into one of the crossovers and out of the way. Ha, ha. Funny thing about this picture - I don't remember who took it. I only remember the three of us high-railing on this occasion.

[highjinx]

Come on, you know they spelled it incorrectly so that if any fools would venture down there would see it was spelled wrong would go back out and tell them so and get busted; hey, it was a messed way of thinking back then...LMAO!

[highjinx]

Traveling through that tunnel on the Detroit to New York via the Canadian route that N.Y.C. took back in the day, I got to once see this very sign for a brief moment as our train past by that area; though I traveled through that tunnel all so many times each year while I was growing up, I only got to see the sign that that one fading time.

How often I thought it would be so cool to go on an adventure into the tunnel to this point and do exactly what you and your friends did. Thanks for having the moxie to do what I only dreamed of doing.

I went on a lot adventures in my life, but this one would have been my Mt. Everest if I only had the nads to have done it back then. What the great memories the "four" of you must have of this day...hey there had to be someone taking the picture right?

[Ltdave]

the tunnel in port huron [[the first) was the first sub-aqueous tunnel in the world when i opened in 1898...

the new tunnel finished in 1993 was in a toss-up between port huron/sarnia and detroit/windsor. CN promised that there wouldnt be any jobs lost when they finished the tunnel [[AAR rules require all rolling stock to undergo an inspection when it changes rail [[ownership) but that lasted all of about 6 months before they started to close the car shops in port huron...

the inter-modal cars may clear but if they arent in the underslung cars they wont fit. the hi-cube cars are too long to make the grade change and still clear...

for a while [[mid-late 90s, i dont recall exactly anymore) there was a blue water international that ran from toronto to chicago through port huron. after 9/11 the customs and border inspections became too onerous to continue the practice and the run was ended. this was already a re institution of a similar train run from many years earlier...

[douglasm]

We're having the same trouble out here between Washington and British Columbia.

What would be the possibility of lowering the floor and using low profile steel ties in the Detroit/Windsor tunnel. BNSF did that with the 8 mile long Cascade Tunnel a few years ago, and although it delayed service through the bore, they never had to suspend it.

[jon]

cp [[i think) has been planning a new tunnel for a long time. the work is being planned by hdr out of chicago. my impression is that the old tunnel will stay in place [[for upcoming passenger rail perhaps) and the new tunnel will be built below the first [[weird huh?).

[MikeM]

http://www.crgateway.com/Home.aspx

[1KielsonDrive]

Great posts as usual, MikeM. Always informative and well researched. Thanks.

[Downriviera]

If the new rail tunnel is built, the old one could be used for cars and trucks, right? And if thats the case, we wouldn't need another bridge? Just wondering.