Taft Tunnel is a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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 ...

in the

northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, located in the southwest part of

Lisbon, Connecticut Lisbon is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, by road northeast of Norwich. The town is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 4,195 at the 2020 census. The town center is also known as the ...

. Completed in 1837, it was the first

common carrier A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law (legal system), civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier ...

railroad tunnel built in the United States, though it was not used until 1839 (before which several other tunnels were in use). It is still in use in its original form.

History

In late November 1835, the

Norwich and Worcester Railroad The Norwich and Worcester Railroad (N&W) was a railroad in the U.S. states of Connecticut and Massachusetts. Its north-south mainline ran between its namesake cities of Worcester, Massachusetts, and Norwich, Connecticut, (later extended to Gro ...

awarded a contract for construction of the first of its line from

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...

, to

Jewett City, Connecticut Jewett City is a borough in New London County, Connecticut, United States, in the town of Griswold. The borough is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 3,328 at the 2020 census, down from 3,487 in 2010. The ...

. The most difficult section of the railroad to construct, it ran along the rocky ledges of the

Quinebaug River The Quinebaug River ( ) is a river in south-central Massachusetts and eastern Connecticut, with watershed extending into western Rhode Island. The name "Quinebaug" comes from the southern New England Native Americans in the United States, Nati ...

and required a short tunnel under Bundy Hill. The tunnel was long, wide, and high. It was ready for rails to be laid on August 26, 1837, and declared complete two days later. Some passenger and freight service began around September 1839, though the railroad did not officially open until March 9, 1840. The Taft Tunnel is the oldest common carrier tunnel in the country to be completed, although the

Staple Bend Tunnel The Staple Bend Tunnel, about east of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in a town called Mineral Point, was constructed between 1831 and 1834 for the Allegheny Portage Railroad. Construction began on April 12, 1831. This tunnel, at in length, was the ...

of the non-common carrier

Allegheny Portage Railroad The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad constructed through the Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania. It operated from 1834 to 1854 as the first transportation infrastructure through the gaps of the Allegheny that connecte ...

was completed in 1833. However, it was not the first to open - the

Yorkville Tunnel The Park Avenue main line, which consists of the Park Avenue Tunnel and the Park Avenue Viaduct, is a railroad line in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running entirely along Park Avenue. The line carries four tracks of the Metro-North ...

(opened October 27, 1837),

Black Rock Tunnel The Black Rock Tunnel is an active rail road tunnel of the old Reading Railroad. The 1835 tunnel was the third rail tunnel constructed in the United States, and is the third oldest still in use. The tunnel is also notable as being the first for ...

(opened 1838), and Howard Tunnel (opened 1838) were all in service before the Taft Tunnel. Now used by the

Providence and Worcester Railroad The Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W; ) is a Class II railroad operating of tracks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as well as New York (state), New York via trackage rights. The company was founded in 1844 to build ...

for freight service, the tunnel is still among the oldest active railroad tunnels in the United States.

References

External links

{{commons category-inline Railroad tunnels in Connecticut Transportation buildings and structures in New London County, Connecticut Lisbon, Connecticut Tunnels completed in 1837 1837 establishments in Connecticut

History

See also

References

External links