Tunnel #1 - East Tennessee and Western North Carolina - Hampton, TN
Posted by: 
vhasler
N 36° 17.700 W 082° 10.817
17S E 394019 N 4017315
Tunnel #1 passes through rock in a bend of the Doe River
Waymark Code: WM75T1
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 09/06/2009
Views: 27
New concrete bridges on US 19E pass over the Doe River. Looking to the southeast, you see two old railroad pillars and the former abandoned bridge. These lead to the tunnel, which can be walked through with some natural light.
East TN and Western NC was set up as a "narrow" 3 ft gauge railroad to haul processed iron smelted from magnetite ore found in Cranberry, NC to distribution out of Johnson City, TN. Daily freight and passenger service started in 1882. A third rail was added in 1911 to allow standard gauge equipment to use the line. The link below is good write-up about this tunnel.
The part of the ET&WNC railroad still in existence is the Tweetsie line over in Boone, NC.
Construction: Natural - No lining
Condition: Good
Rail Status: No
Current status: Abandoned & Visitable
Original Use: Freight
The "Other End": N 36° 17.675 W 082° 10.740
Tunnel Length: 290.00
Terrain: 
Website: [Web Link]
Date Built: 08/22/1881
Date Abandoned: 10/16/1950
Suggested Parking Area: Not Listed
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