Western Railroad Discussion > Steven's Pass - Sat. Jul. 16

Short trip up to Steven's Pass today to hike a portion of the Iron Goat Trail.  I managed to catch a container train coming through the Cascade Tunnel on my way back.

#1.  Cascade Tunnel West Portal from the Windy Point viewpoint on the Iron Goat Trail
#2.  A look inside the Windy Point tunnel from the West Portal.  This tunnel is on the old GN main in use until the new Cascade Tunnel was open in '28
#3.  West Portal Cascade Tunnel.  The headlights of the train are visible.  Anyone know when the notches were cut in the tunnel to allow double-stack clearance?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/16 00:22 by gsnyder.

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#4.  At the portal
#5.  Head end out of the tunnel
#6.  More of the head end of the train.  Note the close clearance of the containers to the notch cut into the tunnel.

 

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UM!, you walked around the barricades that were there??????? Or are they gone now?
Was the rock fall mucked out and the tunnel roof repaired??????

You must be thinking of the old Cascade Tunnel which has suffered ceiling collapses inside the tunnel and periodic flash floods through the West Portal as the debris dams give way.  The East Portal of that tunnel is completely fenced off with a chain link fence and the West Portal is no longer accessible via the trail.  Windy Point tunnel is more or less intact but does have a couple of debris blowouts on the tunnel wall closer to the east portal.  The picture was taken from just inside the west portal of Windy Point tunnel at the end of the trail stub where there are some informational signs about the tunnel and construction.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/16 11:44 by gsnyder.

Pretty amazing, those tunnels.  You have to thank the RR pioneers who got these done, against many odds.  Sheer tenacity.

Meanwhile, 2 tunnels under the Hudson River for NYC built by government agencies may never get done...while the original Pennsylvania RR tunnels soldier on...

#4 is a winner to me.  They are all great pictures.  Thanks for posting.

I lived up that way for a bit over a year in 2015/2016.  Beautiful area.  Been to the old tunnel you mentioned and have pictures.  Also was able to walk through the 2.3 mile old tunnel over off I-90.  Got a chance to hike a bit of the Pacific Crest Trail and got a few shots down onto the west portal of that old tunnel where the power lines cross.

Building two 45 plus foot diameter concrete segement lined tunnels using a single or pair of tunnel boring machines under a major river
requires financing a multibillion dollar debt, a huge amount of work and planning plus core drilling and permits with the army corp of engineers and the NYSDEC and the EPA as the Hudson is a federal waterway let alone dealing with the geology as drill and blast on scaffolds like the old tunnels were is much more costly to do in water crossings at "shallow depths" due to the work required and. the tunnel types are as different as night and day.

 

 

leonz Wrote:
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> UM!, you walked around the barricades that were
> there???????

Oh, the horror!!!!