Get a copy of the November 2018 Trains, suspect Kalmbach would be happiest if you bought one, and go to page 42. It is a real life version of a toy train tunnel many have seen as a kid. It really leaps out at the people who have seen it.
If you buy the issue, it’s a pretty decent one. I liked the small summary of New England RR history.
You could also do a search for “Drano Lake Washington” on a map site but it will not be as dramatic as the image.
Is it this one?:
Here’s another view:
It’s the Applegate tunnel near Colfax CA on the old SP line.
Ed
^^^ Unfortunately no. It is tunnel 2 by Drano Lake (real name) Washington on the BNSF main line through the Columbia River Gorge.
Real cool image though!
Then maybe I should buy a copy. I model Lyle, 15 miles upriver of that point.
Looking at your cited tunnel, I do see your point about it looking like a Lionel kind of tunnel:
It’s on the North Bank of the Columbia (hence SP&S’s nickname of The North Bank Road). The road tunnel is for State Route 14, a very scenic two-lane road up the river from Vancouver (ours, not theirs). On the other side of the river is the UP and US 84, equally scenic but much wider and faster.
In reading the first post, I got stuck on the toy train tunnel concept. The Applegate tunnel just appeared in my head. And blocked out everything else (you must admit it’s the toy trainiest tunnel there ever was). I didn’t really pay attention to the last paragraph, which clearly stated it was the one above.
The plus is, though, that both tunnels are very interesting. And I thank you for posting!
Ed
Funny, I thought the same thing when I saw the picture. “Whoever made that didn’t work too hard to make it realistic. No real railroad would build a tunnel that short - and that big round pine tree on the left (by the lead BNSF engine) is clearly an old Life-Like one from the seventies!”
Who would make the tunnel that short? Unless the hill or mountain erosion away leaving it open. Looking again maybe not. Puzzling.
^^^ It was being Daylighted. You can see where overburden had been removed leaving the stonework.
I read that the Applegate tunnel was concrete lined for the first 50 feet, and then wood lined deeper in. So, rather than repair the failing wood framing, they daylighted the tunnel (see missing tunnel in photos). But the concrete was just fine, so some bright lad said “Why should we make more work for ourselves and take it out? Why not just leave it?”.
Someone that bright either progressed higher up the ladder, or was fired. Hard to tell which.
Ed
Very interesting subject on tunnel daylighting. Thanks for informing me.
That’s for sure. It would seem that it would have happened more often, but I’ve seen no evidence that it did.
Ed