Between The Bores - CNO&TP Tunnels 25 & 26

On a cold, windy, but partially cloudy day, my dad and I went down to Oakdale, Tennessee to see a few trains and check out the tunnels down there. After a short and mild hike we arrived between the two bores.

The short Tunnel 25 is the only one of the original 27 small bored tunnels built in 1880's on the then Cincinnati Southern Railway. It was enlarged and lined with concrete in 1963 during the Southern Railway's enhancement project of the Rathole District.

The longer Tunnel 26 was bored new in 1963 to relocate the mainline out of the original Tunnel 26 just to the west of the new bore. The other end of Tunnel pops out onto a single track to double track section where a cantilever type signal setup was located. That set of signals can be seen in some of my other videos and was donated to the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee by Norfolk Southern.

Original Tunnel 26 was bypassed by the new bore for clearance issues. The old tunnel has seen better days and the floor is completely under water. The number stone that stood at the peak of the front arch has fallen due to deterioration of the front and is visible up close. The stone is far too heavy to be moved as there isn't a good way to get in there with a big enough piece of equipment to retrieve it.

A couple of semaphore masts are seen laid down in the woods not too far from the old tunnel and railroad grade. These cast iron poles held some of the earlier methods of railroad traffic signaling until the GRS Type SC Searchlight signal began replacing them. A few concrete bases with the old studs in them for the masts are still located down there.

There once was an interlocking tower by the name of D.B. Tower. We could not locate those remains.

The Emory Gap Local, NS T-45, has finished its switching in Oakdale for the day. It has built a few blocks of cars for road trains and a block for the Clinton Local, T-12. T-45 snakes through the two bores on its way to storage tracks on the K&O west of Harriman Junction to set out some cars. The SD40-2's were a pleasant sight and sound. Despite what the dispatcher was saying, the symbol is T-45. He was getting it wrong all day.

Shortly after NS 275 snakes between the bores with a lengthy train of auto racks.

There is plenty of history to learn about the Rathole District and the 27 tunnels that once existed. The Southern Railway TIES magazine, which can be found on southern.railfan.net, did some pretty good documentation of it. Check them out!

Also, check out this page on tngenweb.org. Good photos of the tower, Tunnel 25, and Tunnel 26. http://tngenweb.org/morgan/towers-tun...

Enjoy!