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Discussion relating to the B&O up to it's 1972 merger into Chessie System. Visit the B&O Railroad Historical Society for more information. Also discussion of the C&O up to 1972. Visit the C&O Historical Society for more information. Also includes the WM up to 1972. Visit the WM Historical Society for more information.
 #195101  by hutton_switch
 
When the B&O was first completed in 1853, there were two major tunnels on the line in West Virginia, the Kingwood Tunnel on the West End, and the Board Tree Tunnel, above Grafton. Kingwood Tunnel was later modernized about 1910 or slightly later, with a new bore, and the old bore was closed about 1961, I believe.

To get to Wheeling, once trains got to Grafton, they had to go north through Fairmont to eventually reach Wheeling. Board Tree Tunnel was located close to the Pennsylvania state line, at the point where the southwest corner of that state is located, not very far from Wheeling or Fairmont.

My question is, what eventually became of Board Tree Tunnel? I'm certain it was abandoned, but when? Was it ever modified or rebored to take larger locomotives? Or was it simply abandoned when surveyors and engineers found a better way to get over the mountainous terrain to Wheeling?

Thanks

 #201553  by choess
 
I can't make a definitive answer to that question, but there are some (post-abandonment) pictures in the HABS/HAER collection: just search on "Board Tree". It doesn't look as if it was ever rebored.

 #201594  by hutton_switch
 
choess wrote:I can't make a definitive answer to that question, but there are some (post-abandonment) pictures in the HABS/HAER collection: just search on "Board Tree". It doesn't look as if it was ever rebored.
Thanks much for that link! Those photos and data pages at the LOC site are valuable information!

 #386079  by Malley
 
Great pictures, choess. I have seen the western portal several times, but it is now blocked. The eastern portal is accessed thru private property, but we hope to get a look at it next weekend. There was an entire series of tunnels cutting thru narrow ridges on the way to Board Tree, and an other between Board Tree and Wheeling.
Because the state of Pennsylvania (at the behest of the PRR) would not let the B&O cross in to the commonwealth, B&O got to Wheeling by a torturous route. The whole West End is hard railroading, but the swing around the SW corner of PA is almost laughable. B&O avoided PA by the barest of margins, and by snaking thru some tight valleys.
The town of Littleton, near Board Tree, is virtually a ghost town. Two beatuiful cut-stone banks are across an alley from one another; not a pane of glass in either one.
Well worth a look; the locals would like a bike trail made of it, but I don't think the prospects are good.
Malley

 #386142  by hutton_switch
 
Malley,

If you get down to Board Tree Tunnel, try to get lots of pictures, and if possible, could you try to post some of them? There might not be much to see, other than the approach and tunnel entrance, but at least you'll get there before everything gets all overgrown for the season.

Years ago, there was an article in the B&ORHS' magazine, The Sentinel, on the Fairmont Subdivision. There were a bunch of photos of the area, plus some of Littleton as it appeared back in the 'teens. If possible, could you also get some photos of what's left of Littleton? It would be interesting to compare the "then" with the "now".

Thanks,

 #386145  by Malley
 
Wade, I'm a technodunce, so it may be a struggle to get my photos posted here, but I will give it a try.
It is certainly our plan to take plenty of pictures, and I hope Littleton and BoardTree stay on the agenda.
I belong to a camp near Garrison, PA, just north of the border. The nearest town with flush toilets and cold beer is Hundred, WV. The old main line passed thru there as well, and some of it has been preserved as a trail. The nest of tunnels further west (it is a real 'rathole' stretch) are interesting but blocked, tho' the locals have 'unblocked' crawl holes in several.
We also want to look at the Sheepskin, the abandoned B&O line out of Little Washington, the NS line farther north...a lot to see.
Malley

 #409895  by Malley
 
Sorry for the long delay. We indeed had a look at the tunnels; all are semi-sealed with cinderblock. We initially thought 'the buggers; why close the tunnels?', but we are now speculating that the notion was preservation and not just cussedness.
Board Tree and Welling are amazingly full of water; allowance should have been made for drainage. Curious locals/train geeks have knocked block out of all the tunnel closures. We were able to enter one of the shorter tunnels between Hundred and Littleton; it was in pretty fair shape, but B&O couldn't resist curving even SHORT tunnels.
Sometime I'll find a nuclear camera flash able to illuminate the entire inside of old tunnels! They are real light eaters; most of our shots don't do things justice.
We took a lot of pictures of the Bank of Littleton. It's competition across the street is now an activities center, but the BofL stands open to the weather; windows gone, roof collapsing. It's possible to walk right up to the Mosler vault door.
Any idea where, exactly, those pics are in the Sentinel?
I've got to figure how to post my pics as well.
Malley

 #410503  by hutton_switch
 
Malley wrote:Any idea where, exactly, those pics are in the Sentinel?
I've got to figure how to post my pics as well.
The Sentinel article I'm referring to is not exclusively on Board Tree Tunnel, but is of the Fairmont Subdivision. It is Volume 10, number 6 (November/December 1988). Titled "Memories of the Fairmont Subdivision", in paper form, that issue is no longer available from the Society, but is available on a CD-ROM where all issues of The Sentinel have been scanned to Adobe Acrobat .PDF files. Go to http://www.borhs.org (the Society's web site) and click on the link "Company Store", then the link, "Videos", and scroll the right portion of the page down to where you'll see stock numbers 40101 and 40102, "B&O Historical Society Sentinel Magazines on CD". The particular issue I refer to is on CD Vol. 1, stock #40101. I know that $49.95 might be a bit steep per CD, but for the wealth of B&O information you get from twenty years of The Sentinel on both of those CDs, the cost of $100.00 is definitely worth it. If you are a member of the Society, the CDs can be discounted somewhat in price.

Regarding posting of photos here at Railroad.net, I've tried posting some, but find that it can only be done if the photos are at another link elsewhere than on the Railroad.net server (e.g., photos cannot be uploaded to the Railroad.net server proper). If you can post your photos to another web site that specializes in the posting of rail photography, you can post a link to that photo here. Hope this helps a bit in your efforts to post your Board Tree and Littleton photos.

 #519605  by SRC90
 
Have you guys ever seen a ghost inside the tunnel? If not, here's your chance. Here's a picture I took a few days ago while I was in WV. You just have to look really close to see him. He's a tunnel worker.

Image

 #519610  by Malley
 
Dead link, dead link, dead link... :-D
Moon

 #519622  by SRC90
 
Sorry. Lets see if this will show up

Image

 #519878  by RussNelson
 
Malley wrote:Sometime I'll find a nuclear camera flash able to illuminate the entire inside of old tunnels! They are real light eaters; most of our shots don't do things justice.
You need three or four slave flashes, at a minimum.

 #520203  by Malley
 
Russ, you may well be right. I have considered putting up a Coleman lantern, and sitting the camera on a tripod mit timer. We are tunnel rats of long standing, and when we walked thru' B&O Knobley, the lantern was the way to really see. My big cop Maglight wasn't a candle by comparison, altho' a lantern doesn't make a very good club. :-D

I DID get some shots of B&O Pinkerton while the work lights were on recently, and they didn't come out too badly.
Thnx,
Malley

 #520239  by RussNelson
 
The other thing I've seen people do in tunnels is take a long exposure, and then "paint" the tunnel with light.

 #520434  by SRC90
 
I was thinking about doing that in this tunnel, but I didn't have my tri-pod with me. Darn!!