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Oldest Subway Tunnel in the World
Brooklyn, NY - adam - Monday, January 5th, 2009 : goo
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The Atlantic Avenue Tunnel is officially the world's oldest subway tunnel, built in 1844 by the cut-and-cover method under a City of Brooklyn Street. It is a half-mile long and accommodated two standard gauge tracks. The tunnel was built in only seven months, using only hand tools and primitive (by today's standards) equipment. It was built to provide grade separation for early Long Island Rail Road trains that lacked brakes good enough to operate on city streets, and to eliminate vehicular and pedestrian traffic conflicts and delays. This route allowed through trains to travel quickly between Brooklyn and Boston (via ferry service to Connecticut).
The tunnel was supposedly filled in 1861 in a fraud scheme that apparently just seeled off the ends. Bob Diamond rediscovered the long forgotten Atlantic Avenue Tunnel in 1980. The Brooklyn Historic Railway Association (BHRA) was formed in 1982 to restore the historic tunnel. BHRA successfully filed and received designation for the tunnel on the National Register of Historic Places.
More info about the tunnel and the tours can be found at:
www.brooklynrail.net/proj_aatunnel.html
Today I was lucky enough to catch one of his tours as they seem to happen rather sporadically.
Peering down into the manhole I wasn't sure what it would be like.
Bob sat down every 50 feet or so to tell us stories. I believe at this point he went into deal about a body that is supposedly buried in the wall of a man that was chopped up by the people working for him (at slave wage).
Looking up at the layers between us and atlantic avenue (about 4 stories).
The generator in the first picture helped light the tunnel.
The group admiring the white wash ceiling.
The wall at the other end that they are hoping to excavate through funding in a potential discovery channel series/special. Supposedly there are lost trains on the otherside of the wall.
The tunnel was once searched for terrorists before the start of WWI as the writing on the wall notes the name and dates of those searching.
When Bob found the tunnel he broke through the wall to find there was a 14 foot drop.
This area was filled with dirt when discovered. Now its just a claustrophobic passageway.
This article has been viewed 5418 times in the last 33 months
Peter: 5th Jan 2009 - 13:56 GMT
im glad to see this place made so accessible to people... the lights and stairs/walkways are good additions. did you see the 110+ year old "remember the maine!" graffiti in there?
adam: 5th Jan 2009 - 14:01 GMT
The city has screwed this guy more than once. Fortunately theres a new batch of politicians that gave him the green light to do tours again and a 10 year lease.
I missed that graffiti but there were definitely some jokes made about cave paintings. :)
Peter: 5th Jan 2009 - 14:12 GMT
good for him! yeah, what a dedicated guy. i can only imagine trying to petition nyc to get permission to take the general public into a cavernous subterranean abandoned tunnel, heh...
here are some links for anyone not familiar:
the-tech.mit.edu/~Subway/Tunnel/index.html
www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/tunnel/tunnel.html
chrisbernardo.vox.com/library/video/6a00cdf7f2054c094f0100a7f6cc39000e.html
Cobble Hill Tunnel
jack: really a great post, i love this stuff.
zagg: Funtastic post; would enjoy more like this :)
Rich: 7th Jan 2009 - 04:33 GMT
Great job Adam, thanks for the most informative tour and thanks Peter for the other links, I saw this on TV and was amazed at the thought: "ya never know what ya might be walking on, over, under, or past".
Peter: 13th Jan 2009 - 04:30 GMT
yo the hatch is the manhole in the first photo, hahaha. bring a crowbar!
adam: 13th Jan 2009 - 13:56 GMT
Yo that'd be scary as hell going in there without a generator for the lights.
tunnelelf: 14th Feb 2009 - 20:37 GMT
Good thing you didn`t discover our hidden tunnels. We tunnelpeople have been living underneath your filthy human cities for Centuries. We will eat any human creatures who try to enter our tunnels. Whoaahhaahhaahh...
Be afraid...Be very Afraid.
Peace and love; Mister and Misses tunnelelf.
ChickenUnderwear: I took that tour, It was fun
Joe in New Rochelle: 5th Apr 2009 - 20:54 GMT
Great finding where does this tunnel starts from and where does it end? is there any possibility of findind centuries long steam engines abandoned in there. What is the cities stake in this venture? who wouldapparently owns the tunnel now legally? The state or the feds?
Urban Neighbourhood: 12th May 2009 - 00:02 GMT
Absolutely great! urbanneighbourhood.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/the-oldest-subway-tunnel-in-the-world
steve saines: 19th May 2009 - 06:10 GMT
Absolutely fascinating stuff. Be aware that the chances of finding rolling stock or locos is next to zero. Worth too much. Even if defective, any contractor would have sold it for scrap. In the event, it would have seen out service on the rest of the railways' system.
From the photos I've viewed, this tunnel appears to be in far, far better shape than many from that age. Whether it was deprived of oxygen is a good question, as that alone would have stopped a lot of deterioration over the years. Also the lack of running water would appear to have left it in close to pristine shape. I suspect it must also have remained above freezing point in the winte, and allowed the cut stone and bricks to not crumble.
Just amazing....
Sanzay: 19th May 2009 - 16:05 GMT
Amazing! Outstanding labor and legislative efforts to legalize urban exploration trips! Still can't pick my jaw from the table ;-) This place can be turned into the museum or theme park or several thematic bars/night clubs.
BTW there is a system of tunnels called Odessa Catacombs under the city of Odessa, Ukraine. But unlike the NYC transport tunnels they were built to harvest the limestone for buildings. Old Odessa buildings are made from this porous sedimentary stone that is relatively easy to jigsaw or break. Most buildings those days used to be connected to the tunnels and even use the part of the tunnels for storage. www.articlesbase.com/travel-tips-articles/extreme-tourism-exploring-the-maze-of-odessa-catacombs-668583.html
During the WWII this labyrinth of tunnels hosted Soviet Union guerrilla teams that were fighting against Nazi forces. Right now isolated sub graph of this labyrinth hosts thematic museum about WWII history of catacombs. www.placestofeel.com/underground-world/catacombs/odessa.htm
Back in nineties my dad and I visited one untreated opening somewhere in the suburbs of Odessa city.
Are there City Noisers from cities of Rome and Paris that also have catacombs?
mike : i would like to see what is behind the wall.
Klaus T.R. Phobia: 19th Jan 2010 - 10:47 GMT
The Thames Tunnel in London is two years older than the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel. It was part of the London Underground network but is currently closed while it is being upgraded to carry overground trains to serve the London Olympics in 2012. It was designed by Marc Brunel and much of the construction was overseen by his famous son, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
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