The Quemahoning Tunnel was a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

that was constructed for use on the stillborn

South Pennsylvania Railroad The South Pennsylvania Railroad is the name given to two proposed, but never completed, railroads in Pennsylvania during the 19th century. Parts of the right-of-way (railroad), right of way for the second South Pennsylvania Railroad were reused f ...

. The tunnel was located in

Somerset County, Pennsylvania Somerset County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 74,129. Its county seat is Somerset, Pennsylvania, Somerset. ...

near the 106.3 milemarker of the

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for across the southern part of the st ...

. While the South Pennsylvania Railroad never came to fruition and is known in history as " Vanderbilt's Folly", the Quemahoning Tunnel has the distinction of being the only tunnel of the nine tunnels constructed on the South Pennsylvania alignment that was actually used by railroads, as it was used by the Pittsburgh, Westmoreland and Somerset Railroad from 1909 to 1916. When the newly formed

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) is an agency created in 1937 to construct, finance, operate, and maintain the Pennsylvania Turnpike (both the mainline and the Northeast Extension). The commission consists of five members. Four memb ...

purchased the South Pennsylvania Railroad alignment in 1937, the Turnpike considered using the Quemahoning Tunnel, but instead bypassed it. The Laurel Hill Tunnel, which was also constructed by the railroad but used by the Pennsylvania Turnpike until its own bypassing in 1964, is located six miles to the west. The Negro Mountain Tunnel, also bypassed by the Turnpike during the original construction, is located ten miles to the east. As of 2019, it was planned to be daylighted as part of the expansion of the turnpike to six lanes. In 2022 the destruction of the tunnel was reported to have been completed in preparation of the widening of the Turnpike.https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10217209062738199&set=gm.10159857209205073&idorvanity=38777495072

References

External links

Quemahoning Tunnel at Gribblenation.net
{{Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Railroad tunnels in Pennsylvania Transportation buildings and structures in Somerset County, Pennsylvania Tunnels completed in 1906 Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission 1906 establishments in Pennsylvania