Is There Really a Car in There?

         Monday morning; Frank and I were going out in search of history. It wasn’t going to be a difficult search; we knew right where we were going. I had been there before and I was curious to see how it had changed. It was still dark as we loaded our camera gear into the car. The roads were shiny from the headlights reflecting off the wet roads and traffic was heavy in places with people rushing to get to their jobs. We were teased with the possibility of a nice sunrise, but it never materialized.

        Shortly after the sun rose we arrived in Bakerstown, ready to start our journey back into time. We were going to visit the site where a tunnel had been cut in a hillside by the railroad company. It had been abandoned over a hundred years ago!

A P&W narrow gauge steam engine passing through Glenshaw

        The railroad line was first laid here in the 1870. A station was built sometime after. The line, a narrow gauge, was owned by the P&W Railroad. The station was placed at the peak of the long slope that the tracks climb out of Etna.

A  B & O locomotive sits at the Bakerstown Station as the switch is set to allow the helper engines onto a siding. Taken in the 1970’s

        The station is long gone. It was abandoned and then removed, with hope of erecting it in another spot as a historical site. The plans fell through due to assorted haggling and whenever a final decision had been made, the building had rotted beyond saving. (I’ve seen this happen before and I’m sure it will happen again!) Only a few concrete bits of the foundation remain here.

Shot taken shortly after the cut was made in the hillside

        A tunnel was dug through the hillside when the tracks were first laid. After the tracks were widened to the Standard gauge in 1911 and another track was laid down, the company, now B&O,  probably thought it would be cheaper to cut through the hill rather than dig a new tunnel. The tunnel was closed around 1913. 

        The tunnel had collapsed at least once in its history, possibly more. I found a newspaper clipping from the New York Times dated April 6, 1892 which tells the story of a local woman who stopped an approaching train by waving her skirt, saving the train from crashing into the collapsed tunnel.

        I have also heard stories that the tunnel collapsed while a train was in it and that there might be a RR car still inside. There is also the story that the tunnel may be haunted…well, you know how stories spread. You can choose which ones you want to believe.

        The spot we were searching for was heavily overgrown. The last time I had been here, I didn’t have much trouble finding the cut. Now, we couldn’t even see the rocks because of all the brush and weeds.

        A small stream ran alongside the tracks and we found a spot where logs and sticks had been placed to make a bridge. High grass grew around the wobbly span and it covered the RR ties which crossed further on. Putting my tripod into the grass beside the logs, it sank down 5 or 6 inches into a thick black muck. We didn’t want to slip as we crossed!

        We made it across without any major problems. Jagger bushes and lots of what looked like hedges that had grown wild filled the narrow slot that was cut into the hillside. We zigged and zagged as we made our way in, searching for the easiest route. We had to crouch to avoid the branches which tangled together over our heads. My tripod kept getting caught in the branches and vines as we pushed them aside.

First view of the opening

        Crossing over a couple old fallen trees, one of which scrapped my head, we came to the end of the cut. ( A small amount of blood always adds to the excitement of an expedition!) Pushing aside the last couple bushes we could see a slender opening in the rock face. Extending about 10-15 feet sideways, it was only about three or four foot high.

Frank approaching the opening

        Outside the soil was wet and slippery but under the overhang, it dried as we went into the tunnel. We could only go in about 20 feet.  A few rocks and dried dirt made a shelf we could stand on. We could barely stand upright without hitting our heads. The roof was rough and uneven. The small amount of light filtering through the opening didn’t go very far into the deep darkness of the tunnel; we could barely see the water. The far end was invisible in the darkness. The water was lower than I remembered it. When we talked there was a slight echo, that and the sound of water continuously dripping from the ceiling created a spooky background.

        Setting up our tripods we played around with our cameras, attempting to focus on something we couldn’t even see. Our ISO’s were pushed to the max as were the exposure times. Flashlights helped illuminate the tunnel more, waving the lights back and forth to even out the illumination. Of all my shots, only a couple turned out well. It was a matter of trial and error.

        I went down a little closer to the water, below where the water level was the last time I was here. There was no smell to the water, I knew it wasn’t stagnant since I could see and hear water dripping off the roof.

        I wondered how high the tunnel was. I am only guessing that the top of the tunnel was 9-10 feet above the water.  I had read that most clearances on tunnels are about 8 foot above the cars, I don’t know if that was the same in the days when tunnels were dug by “hand”. I would imagine that the water is fairly deep if a train was able to pass through the tunnel. I didn’t want to find out so I stayed away from the edge!

        The tunnel is listed on-line as being 623 feet long. The blockade at the end looked closer than that. I don’t think we were looking at a man-made barricade; it appeared as if it had collapsed.  After 10 minutes we had seen all there was to be seen. (There isn’t much to be seen in tunnels.) We didn’t see any ghost, that’s for sure. We also didn’t see any railroad car in the cave, BUT, who knows how deep the water is. Maybe it is hiding under the water or under the rocks at the far end! 

        We worked our way back out to the tracks, it took a lot less time getting out as compared to getting in! We both crossed the water hazard without slipping! It was another successful trip, this one back into time. Next on the list was a couple caches and then coffee!