I am a retired expat living in Trieste, Italy and I saw the post about the Gotthard Base tunnel and just had to ask a question. I had the opportunity to ride behind a grand 2-8-0 from Nuova Gorizia, Slovenia to Bled near the Austrian border on the now severed Transalpina Railway. At the top of the grade between the the Saco and Sava River valleys there is the 4 mile Bohinj tunnel which must be transited. There had been 10 days of unrelenting downpours prior to this trip and all the rivers in NE Italy and western Slovenia were near flood level. About 3 miles into the tunnel we slowed to a crawl, and a quick trip to the stairwell of the unvestibled 1920-era coach told the story. The tunnel was flooded and there was a huge torrent of water moving at a level higher than the ties but not yet over the railhead. Since it was in a tunnel you couldn’t see a thing but you could definately hear the water moving. Cascades of water were also pouring thru vents in the roof of the tunnel.
Severeal flash pictures revealed that the north side of the single track tunnel accomodated a large canal that drained the flood waters to the portal where it cascaded into a concrete flume. The return trip also revealed several “waterfalls” on top of the train to relieve water pressure. It was obvious that the 1906 builders took the water into account and built the flume. I ask the readers if anything like this in North America? I have been thru many tunnels in the USA but have never seen anything like this. Comments please.
Do subways count? In the time I’ve lived in New York City the subways have been flooded several times. The worst effect has been damage to electrical switches. Causes were severe storms and water main breaks. Because Manhattan Island has many underground streams, its pumping system must run constantly, anyway. I’ve heard that the subways would completely flood within a few days if they were shut off.
Tunnel Company locomotive 508 and several wooden ash cars are now at the Illinois Railway Museum awaiting restoration. Number 508 was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Illinois Tunnel Company in 1907. It is only one of two surviving locomotives out of a fleet of 149.
unnel Company locomotive 508 and several wooden ash cars are now at the Illinois Railway Museum awaiting restoration. Number 508 was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Illinois Tunnel Company in 1907. It is only one of two surviving locomotives out of a fleet of 149.
unnel Company locomotive 508 and several wooden ash cars are now at t
Railway tunnel of Bohinj is the longest tunnel
in Slovenia. This tunnel connects country Gorenjska
with country Primorska. The Tunnel was broken 20. 5. 1904
After 1906 through the tunnel drove trains from Vienna to Trieste too. (till 1914)
Primary southern portal German army exploded 6. 5. 1945,
present portal disfigures a door against draught, which now are not more in use.
The tunnel was made as double-track, but owing to problems with water in the tunnel is one track.
In the tunnel are 2 bigger springs and when rains are abundant
water overflow the tunnel and stops railway traffic
I recall on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad back in the mid-1970’s there was a place where there were two tunnels side by side, the one being newer with the track routed through it, while the older one had dirt piled in front of the bore and it was full of water. It’s somewhere south of Richmond, Kentucky. Tripped across it one day while out skipping class and goofing around with my college roommate. Either way, when building a tunnel, one has to allow for drainage, but it probably helps to fully survey a location to avoid hidden springs or something.
Evidently, the answer is “yes” there have been instances. NYC subway tunnels have been reported flooded from time to time in the instance of broken water mains and unusually heavy rains. Likewise the PATH system has suffered such damage not from 9/11 but unusually heavy rains and high tides specifically at Hoboken in the past 10 or 15 years. Tunnels, almost by nature, are water intensive…usually a combination of ground waters seeping in, changing temperatures causing vapors which might become icecicles and then melting, and by being on a grade having water travel downhill through the tunnel which could be heavy at times. In exploring for abandoned tunnels on the NYO&W and on the old, old DL&W, I have found them impossible to apporach and impassable because of the accumulation of water at the entrances or inside the tunnels themselves.
I want to thank everyone for their responses to my question, and a special thanks to Slvak_Slovenia for his disertation and video. In retrospect I probably asked the wrong question about flooded tunnels. I didn’t realise that the tunnel was originally double track and made single because of water problems. That seemed to be evident at the western portal, but I discounted that because I’d seen the trackwork on the west end of Tunnel 42 on Donner – the western portal appears double track but goes to single at the end of the snowshed. What I really wanted to ask, but did not, is "Is there a tunnel in the US that was designed with “weep holes” and a canal on the side? Oh well, my bad grammar I guess.