Eastern Railroad Discussion > Hoosac Tunnel Update

Per NS published service alert dated today 2/16/20, there will be no trains through the tunnel for another 5-6 days, ie Saturday 2/22/20:Hoosac Tunnel Service DisruptionFeb 16, 2020Norfolk Southern’s partner, Pan Am Railways, has reported a partial wall collapse in the Hoosac Tunnel which affects all trains operating between Mechanicsville, New York, and Ayer, Massachusetts. Pan Am Railway’s engineering department has evaluated the damage and is actively working on repairs. The line is expected to reopen Saturday, Feb. 22. There are limited opportunities for detours. Customers with traffic moving through this area should expect delays through next week.http://www.nscorp.com/content/nscorp/en/service-alerts/hoosac-tunnel-service-disruption.html

WRT detours: Binghamton-E Deerfield daily carload freight train symbols 16R & 11R are routed via VRS between Bellows Falls - Rutland - Hoosick Jct. But apparently no 22K container train to Ayer has departed Chicago in the last few days - don't know what's happening to those shippers' containers. No 23K Chicago bound trains have departed Ayer either in the past few days.

Update from 2/17/20 apparently following the NS Service alert update above: cave-ins continue now accompanied by 5 feet of water in the tunnel. A brook runs over the tunnel about 400 feet from the west portal is the culprit resulting in a sink hole over the tunnel. Brook must be re-routed so that tunnel can be repaired. There's unofficial speculation that repairs might take several weeks jeopardizing the NS statement wrt the expectation that tunnel will re-open next Saturday. Stay tuned!

For Facebookers, there's a page dedicated to Hoosac Tunnel that has the latest updates and photos.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/20 02:19 by JPB.

When I watch the YOUTUBE video posted by a railfan from the rear of a private obs car, I cannot believe there were once 2 mainlines inside that bore.  The clearances had to have been super close.

The tunnel is so old, you can feel it, even by video.  Knowing how so many men died while making it adds to the mood one feels.  It almost feels like a tunnel to hell.  I sure hope they fix it up, being it's still very useful.  But Pan Am needs to spend some dolars and improve that hole.

Some traffic has been put on hold at Binghamton, NY.  Some trains are running via Port of Albany CSX, Worcester to PAS.  Might be worthwhile to clean up and tighten the connecting track at Vooreesville, NY to loop on the branch to Delansan.

I concur on the NS alert being overly optimistic.  Industry contacts indicate a worse situation than NS lets on, taking several weeks to repair, if not a couple of months.  I think a lot will depend on whether the bare minimum is done to stabilize the tunnel to get things moving again, or if a "permanent" fix is pursued.
 

A 22K with 88 containers departed Chicago last night led by NYC HU. Not clear what detour route will be used.

Posted from iPhone

From various sources I understand they found the problem and it is a mirror of the Ames mudslide on the Rio Grande Southern in the 1920s.  They found a small flowing mountain stream above the west portal had been flowing down off the mountain but recently has worked into the ground and made a direct fall to the track below.  First step to correct the tunnel wall problem will be to divert that mountain stream or pipe it away and dry out the bricks in the tunnel roof and then grout it all with new but time proven material.  No point in projecting their schedule at this point, but it will take a while.  There plenty of track space on the Boston Line for more trains.

Please correct the spell checker to accept the correct spelling of Hoosac Tunnel.  In NY the PanAm Southern goes through the town of Hoosick Falls and passes Hoosick Junction along the Hoosic River.