It must be incredibly difficult to work on repairing this. Hope they stay safe and can get it back open soon.
J. Lang
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Hoosac Tunnel Discussion & News
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Moderator: MEC407
Probably easier said than done, but I wonder why they don’t use one of those corrugated metal culvert type things you see under roads. Much less likely to fail or crumble if it’s one piece and those things, while somewhat flimsy, are designed to withstand or divert a tremendous amount of weight, similar to the concept of how an eggshell has so much strength. Guessing it all comes down to designing and getting it through the tunnel as it would obviously be a tight squeeze.
The Hoosac Tunnel's weak spots have been lined with Armco Steel liner plate. There was a program in the early 1960s before there were any major collapses. Some more was installed after the collapse in 1973. Some might have been placed under the 4R program late 1970s.
Backshophoss wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:33 am This is not going to be a quick fix,the underground stream needs to be rerouted away from the tunnel.Funny story, I heard today that might be the plan... not the whole thing but the impacted area.
Seems to date back to when the tunnel was built.
Might be "cheaper" to Daylight the tunnel
For those that may be interested here is a video that IMR films took from the back of the Amtrak Autumn Special back in 2015. It's shot in infrared red showing what the tunnel looks like inside on the trip thru.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFjZJet_9VQ
I find it interesting but to some it may be a bit (well you know what I mean). Anyway Thanks IMR for posting the video on you tube. It does look like t a lot of liner replacement over the years especially on the west end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFjZJet_9VQ
I find it interesting but to some it may be a bit (well you know what I mean). Anyway Thanks IMR for posting the video on you tube. It does look like t a lot of liner replacement over the years especially on the west end.
J. Lang
CN9634 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 9:43 pmI am not sure who started that rumor (there have been a number of people on Facebook agitating it) but it is 100% false - direct from the horse's mouth.Backshophoss wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:33 am This is not going to be a quick fix,the underground stream needs to be rerouted away from the tunnel.Funny story, I heard today that might be the plan... not the whole thing but the impacted area.
Seems to date back to when the tunnel was built.
Might be "cheaper" to Daylight the tunnel
I was told through a professionally means in person (IE from a non-railfan source at work) if that sheds light. I kind of wrote it off as a I guess we’ll see but it got published in ANR&P the day after which I thought was interesting.
Take that for what it’s worth too, but in reading the ANR&P post, which looks pretty thorough, I think it’s at the least a very possible/feasible option at this point and less of just a Railfan rumor. Kind of makes sense too— essentially that top 50’ swath for the first 1000’ is just a muddy sink hole and since more of it has collapsed, the top has also moved downward as well. A running trench at this point is just a matter of removing layers until you find the tracks. We’ll know in 2 months (which the timeline of a 2 month closure sounds feasible too for a project of that scope)
Take that for what it’s worth too, but in reading the ANR&P post, which looks pretty thorough, I think it’s at the least a very possible/feasible option at this point and less of just a Railfan rumor. Kind of makes sense too— essentially that top 50’ swath for the first 1000’ is just a muddy sink hole and since more of it has collapsed, the top has also moved downward as well. A running trench at this point is just a matter of removing layers until you find the tracks. We’ll know in 2 months (which the timeline of a 2 month closure sounds feasible too for a project of that scope)
Last edited by MEC407 on Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: unnecessary quoting
Their chief engineer said point blank it is not even being considered. This is a classic case where some Woodward and Bernstein hears a whisper or an offhanded comment and it becomes reality. I have my hunches who helped put the wind in the sails of this one.
I don't think people realize what the obstacles for "daylighting" would be. This is a type of project that would takes years to engineer and complete. You would have the Army Corps of Engineers involved, the EPA, likely local and state agencies will try to get their fingers in it. You would need to stage FAR more equipment than is currently working on site well ahead of time, methodically remove all of that earth without destroying the hillside, build some type of retaining wall, cast and build a new portal, move all of the track circuits, fiber optics, communications lines, and all of this done with poor site access. And that is oversimplifying it.
I don't think people realize what the obstacles for "daylighting" would be. This is a type of project that would takes years to engineer and complete. You would have the Army Corps of Engineers involved, the EPA, likely local and state agencies will try to get their fingers in it. You would need to stage FAR more equipment than is currently working on site well ahead of time, methodically remove all of that earth without destroying the hillside, build some type of retaining wall, cast and build a new portal, move all of the track circuits, fiber optics, communications lines, and all of this done with poor site access. And that is oversimplifying it.
newpylong wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:06 am Their chief engineer said point blank it is not even being considered. This is a classic case where some Woodward and Bernstein hears a whisper or an offhanded comment and it becomes reality.
The only difference being Woodward and Bernstein were professional investigative journalists and luckily for them 'Deep Throat' wasn't the young Roger Stone; but Mark Felt, whose true whispers ultimately brought down Amtrak creator and Watergate cover up artist RMN's presidency. Flakebook rumors disguised as "news" is another can of worms...
Tunnel expected sometime next week to re-open.
I'm confident you know who the source is for sure at IHP that perpetuated the daylighting idea. I logged onto AccessNS today and all it says is reopening on Saturday, so I guess we'll see what the update is tomorrow
Found some drone footage on YouTube of the current situation, credit IMR Films...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mn7BeBUcLpA
To me this seems to reinforce the idea that this is a repair effort & not a daylighting.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mn7BeBUcLpA
To me this seems to reinforce the idea that this is a repair effort & not a daylighting.
Per a 1420/02-21-2020 viewing of the NS Service Alert, the tunnel will remain OOS until at least the end of the month.
"A gray crossover is definitely not company transportation."
No surprise, they're saying a couple more weeks.