Abandoned Rathole Tunnels

[Butch]

Randy,

Great pics!  And they are not that far off-topic since they concern a re-route of the Rathole.  But either way, I would be interested in seeing your other photos.

ba

[Southern6482]

I LOVE seeing these pictures!!!! Please-any CNO&TP pics you have---post them.  The one with the construction of the bridge really puts things into perspective!

[GP30Rider]

Something is wrong with that map.  Last time I was out on the CS, Lancing was north of Nemo.  Has someone moved it?

[E.M. Bell]

I found some older stuff (not burnside) while digging through the archives working on the JREB photo gallery.

Here is the South portal of Kings Mountain tunnel back in 2002. You really cant get these shots now, as the portal is covered by a lot more foilage.

[E.M. Bell]

KInda OT, but maybe not...

Ch 56 and 27 news (Lexington KY) reporting today that the Wolf Creek Dam (which holds back Lake Cumberland) is suffering from some rather severe leak (seepage in offical terms). The Army Corps of Engineers are taking steps to begin a project to correct this, and say that it is not a danger at this time (although the news says that they are placing new warning sirens downstream of the dam just in case)  The project could take as much as 7 years to complete.

I went searching for more info on the net, and found the ACE plans, which outline the project. They say that normal lake levels will be maintianed if possable during the summer, but will be reduced December of 2005 to March of 2006. Further more, they will be dropping lake levels even lower in 2007 when the main phase of the project begins. Looks like we just might be able to get a better peak of whats left of old Burnside in the near future.  Makes you wonder just what is left of the old RR and other stuff down there...we may soon see.

The website with more info is  http://www.lrn.usace.army.mil/pao/issues/WOLcommo/index.htm

[ru1056]

KInda OT, but maybe not...

Ch 56 and 27 news (Lexington KY) reporting today that the Wolf Creek Dam (which holds back Lake Cumberland) is suffering from some rather severe leak (seepage in offical terms). The Army Corps of Engineers are taking steps to begin a project to correct this, and say that it is not a danger at this time (although the news says that they are placing new warning sirens downstream of the dam just in case)  The project could take as much as 7 years to complete.

I went searching for more info on the net, and found the ACE plans, which outline the project. They say that normal lake levels will be maintianed if possable during the summer, but will be reduced December of 2005 to March of 2006. Further more, they will be dropping lake levels even lower in 2007 when the main phase of the project begins. Looks like we just might be able to get a better peak of whats left of old Burnside in the near future.  Makes you wonder just what is left of the old RR and other stuff down there...we may soon see.

The website with more info is  http://www.lrn.usace.army.mil/pao/issues/WOLcommo/index.htm

Well that could be interesting..........or scary.

Wonder if they will find any of those 300 pound catfish? :lol:

[E.M. Bell]

I was talking to GW and RFJ this weekend, and Robert reports that the lake level is down a lot more than usual. Supposedly parts of old Burnside are starting to be uncovered slowly but surely. Might have to plan a trip down that way to do some snooping sometime soon.

[E.M. Bell]

Seeing as how this thread is now the largest we have on the board, I moved it to where it should  have been.  Now for the updates..

I spent the day today (01/07/06) out with Butch and Caleb exploring tunnels 7, 8, and 9. Look for a new thread with lots of pics in a day or two for that. Part of our afternoon was spend exploring old Burnside now that the lake is down.  Basicly, there is very little left of Old Burnside except for a few foundations. A local we spoke with told us that the Corps of Engineers basicly bulldozed and burned every structure. there was no sign of the yard tracks we talked about in a post above. The only thing even close to being part of the old RR was a couple of old bridge timbers... nothing more.

It was still neat to see what we did...stuff that has been under water for decades. Here are a few pics..im sure caleb and butch will have more.

Part of old highway US 27, looking Northwest towards Burnside. The CNO&TP old mainline was on the hillside to the right, and the lead to the old Burnside yard tracks came down near the edge of the lakebed on the right.



Small bridge over what used to be a creek on old US 27, Burnside Ky. This is normaly under the waters of Lake Cumberland.


Remains of a small service station along old US 27 at Burnside Ky. Notice the concrete oval for the gas pumps to the right, and the foundation of the small building.



Caleb and Butch stand on the remains of a sidewalk in old Burside Ky. This area is now occupied by the Burnside Marina


The old US 27 tunnel at Burnside

[cmherndon]

m sure caleb and butch will have more.

Well, I thought I had lost all of my photos, but was able to recover them the other day. I put together a few pages this morning.  The new "Relics" section covers both the CNO&TP and Old Burnside and can be viewed by clicking the link below.

http://www.cmherndon.com/galleries/relics

[Butch]

I also have a few new additions to my CNO&TP Tunnels page.

http://home.insightbb.com/~heyref/index.html

ba

[cmherndon]

While searching for some photos of the old alignment, I came across a few shots of the Burnside bridge in 1950, 1951, and 1952.  The first photo is from the Sept. 1950 issue of Ties and shows the northbound Royal Palm crossing the bridge shortly after it opened.



We can honestly say that it was the first time that anyone had ever shot that angle before.

The 2nd photo is from 1951 and was on the cover of the Oct. 1951 issue of Ties.  This one also shows a northbound crossing the bridge.  Things sure have changed since then...



The last one I came across was the southbound Royal Palm.  It looks like the shot was taken from the road that crosses under 27 at the south bank of the river.

[E.M. Bell]

CH said "This one also shows a northbound crossing the bridge. Things sure have changed since then... "

No kidding..how could one shoot at burnside back then?? F units aside, it must have been boring with out the Tastee Shack there at the South end of the bridge..how could one eat a big double loaded tastee burger and a pound of chilli cheese fries with hot peppers..must have been pure hell  

[nsgelocos]

I know this topic is a wee bit old, and I don't know if I should just start a new topic, but.....

there are 2 Tunnels south of Andy Cooper Rd. ( North of Lancing), I haven't hiked them quite yet, as far as I know, they are still standing and are brick lined. They are fairly short. The first one, heading south, is just a few 100 feet from the "Little Lancing" intermediate signal bridge, the next one just further south.

There's one behind the Morgan County Fair Grounds near Annadel, this tunnel is the one located on the west side of the tracks. My uncle has hiked most of the tunnels on the south side of Morgan county and says this one you can still hike through it. I have heard that it has been caved in, the railroad flooded it and buried it, and all kinds of other stuff. One of the tunnels up there, as reported by my uncle, was so close to a bypass cut that the walls BULGED in.

There is (according to the topo map) one located under the US 27 overpass just south of Sunbright and north of Pilot Mountain intermediate signal. I'm not sure if it is accessible.

Of course you got #16 in sunbright, don't know if i'll hike that one in fear i might be trespassing on  someone's property.

There is the Robbins tunnel which I don't know if you can hike that in fear of property trespassing.

Odly, according to the topo map, there is one on the Tennessee railway to Devonia. I have no idea if this is true or not.

The tunnels in Tennessee I haven't seen many pictures of them. I would like to see them in the flesh before their integrity fails.

Aaron

[E.M. Bell]

This seems to be one topic on here that is never old!  Somebody has got to keep Butch coming back for more....  

[butch]

Aaron seems to be a kindred spirit so to peak his interest, south of Helenwood along the old ROW are former CNO&TP tunnels 13 & 14.

The north end of 13



The south end of 13



Tunnel 14 had the floor of the tunnel lower to allow the creek to be rerouted, here is the north end



The south end of 14



And just beyond the old tunnel, there are still supports from the bridge over the creek

[butch]

None of the old tunnels were posted when I visited them, which means mostly that they weren't posted.  I couldn't find anyone to ask about access, but no one questioned me either.

The swampy north end of Tunnel 15 near Robbins



The south end of 15



The north end of 16 at Sunbright-looks like they might be making a trail out of it



The south end of 16



Tunnel 17 is in the side of the cut near the US27 overpass.  It has small openings at the top of the old portal.  Here is the north end



The south end of 17

[butch]

And for tunnels 18-21. 

Tunnel 18 behind the fairgrounds is signifcantly below the current grade and full of water.  The north portal



The south end



19 & 20 are south of Andy Cooper Rd.  The north end of 19



The south end of 19



The north end of 20



The south end of 20



And 21 between Lancing and the river was daylighted, but there is still a small portion of the brick lining visible in the cut

[butch]

I know some of the pix aren't great, but between my limited photography skills, the available light, and a point-n-shot camera, it's the best I could do.  And for those reading the whole thread, some of the links in my previous posts are broken thanks to InsightBB.  I will try to clean them up when I get a chance.

ba

[nsgelocos]

Thank you so much Butch for sharing these pictures. They look perfect to me. Now, the real challenge, finding a picture of Tunnel 27 before it crumbled apart. Someone has one out there probably. Now i know which ones i should stay far away from. 

Now, looking and # 18, you would really need a scubba suit to walk that one, and 17, is there anyway to get into that one?

[butch]

Let me know if you find something on 27.  18 is lifejacket territory, but 17 is just climb up the hill.  Both ends have 3-4 ft openings, but if you want to go in, the south end has water, so go the north end where it's only mud.

[nsgelocos]

is it just me or do I see cross ties, or CONCRETE ties inside 17?

[butch]

old wooden cross ties

[nsgelocos]

surprised they didn't take them out of there, however they left a few in the ditch in old 22 at Nemo. Oh, my uncle said something about a name carved into south portal of old 22.  A"J Peterson" or something. didn't know if you knew about that or not.

[Batman]

butch ,  those are great pix of the old tunnels !

[butch]

Batman-thanks, I have fun figuring them all out.

Aaron-a lot of the abandoned tunnels still have at least some ties in them.  Don't know anything about the carving