The Carlin Tunnel is a collective name for a set of four tunnel bores in the

Humboldt River The Humboldt River is the longest river in the northern and central part of Nevada. It extends in a general east-to-west direction from its headwaters in northern Nevada's Jarbidge Mountains, Jarbidge, Independence Mountains, Independence, and ...

's Carlin Canyon, east of Carlin in

Elko County, Nevada Elko County is a County (United States), county in the northeastern corner of Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 53,702. Its county seat is Elko, Nevada, Elko. The county was established ...

, United States. The two railroad bores were constructed for different purposes at different times, while the two highway bores were constructed concurrently, all with the goal of bypassing a sharp bend in the river. Currently, two of the bores carry

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

, while the other two bores carry

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

's Overland Route and Central Corridor. Bridges over the Humboldt River are adjacent to both portals of three tubes, including the two freeway bores and one of the railroad bores.

History

The first bore was constructed by the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

in 1903 as part of a straightening of the

First transcontinental railroad America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad), Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the exis ...

, prior to this time the railroad followed the curved river through the canyon. The second tunnel was constructed by the

Western Pacific Railroad The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...

for the

Feather River Route The Feather River Route is a rail line that was built and operated by the Western Pacific Railroad. It was constructed between 1906 and 1909, and connects the cities of Oakland, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The line was built to comp ...

. The modern

, which acquired both of these railroad companies, has combined the former competing lines into a dual-track

directional running A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

main for uninterrupted traffic, now known as the Elko Subdivision. The former Southern Pacific bore crosses the Humboldt river at each portal, similar to the freeway bores, while the former Western Pacific bore does not cross the river at the tunnel portals.

U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...

was originally routed on the old railroad grade through the canyon. With the planned construction of Interstate 80 through the area, a third and fourth bore was constructed to accommodate the expected traffic increase and higher traffic speed; these were completed and opened on September 25, 1975. The estimated cost to build the tunnels was US$8 million (equivalent to $ in ); at the time this was the most expensive single construction contract awarded by the Nevada Department of Highways, predecessor agency to the

Nevada Department of Transportation The Nevada Department of Transportation (Nevada DOT or NDOT) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Nevada. NDOT is responsible for maintaining and improving Nevada's highway system, which includes U.S. highways and Interstate highways with ...

. Completion was originally scheduled for late 1974, however during boring fragmented rock was discovered which slowed progress. In addition to these larger tunnels, both railroad grades feature several smaller tunnels as the railroad follows Carlin Canyon and downstream

Palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

canyon of the Humboldt River. The railroad bridges and tunnels near Carlin have made news on a few occasions. In 1908, a rock slide nearly caused the Southern Pacific tunnel to collapse resulting in a massive effort to save the rail line. In 1939, the '' City of San Francisco'' passenger train derailed on one of the Humboldt river bridges, killing 24 and injuring 121. The incident was ruled

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

, but remains unsolved. In 2008, a train derailment at a smaller tunnel west of Carlin led to the collapse of one of the Humboldt River bridges. This bridge collapse resulted in nationwide rail traffic delays.

References

{{Commons category, Carlin Tunnel Buildings and structures in Elko County, Nevada Humboldt River Tunnels in Nevada Rail infrastructure in Nevada Interstate 80 Western Pacific Railroad Southern Pacific Railroad Union Pacific Railroad tunnels Transportation in Elko County, Nevada Tunnels completed in 1903 Railway tunnels in the United States