It was nice talking with you! And awesome video. We only stayed a few minutes in there

@j.r4985

Жыл бұрын

I’d do the same thing, I’d definitely take a peak. I’d also be willing to bet, since 1877, at least someone has ran from one end to the other on a bet from their buddies 😂

@williamh.jarvis6795

Жыл бұрын

@@j.r4985 I have walked completely through the Hoosac Tunnel twice, the last time being in mid 2008. My earlier walk, going west, I experienced having a WB Guilford train, also going west. Back then, trains seem to travel through it going some 35mph. As you so accurately state those trains do push the wind through it. Before I ever saw its headlight coming at me I did feel a definite change in air movement, that blowing on the back of my neck for at least some 5 minutes! I believe that I had me plenty of warning here! This tunnel is numbered every 100 feet inside, with that number 251 at its east portal meaning 25,100 feet, going down as you go west. So to avoid problems I hid inside one of those niches blasted into the north face every 300 feet as that WB passed me so to avoid being seen inside, remaining there for at least 1/2 hour afterwards. What light I was able to see, at each end, from the middle was blocked from its diesel exhaust. When I arrived at a food establishment in North Adams I did have to wash my sooty black face, as I so noted in the restroom's mirror. There was no train coming at me for my return trip. My final walk through it I would experience no train was the tunnel's west portal storm door was down. I had to crawl under this door. It was just like crawling under a motor vehicle so to do maintenance on it. The door comes down only to the top of the rail.

@j.r4985

Жыл бұрын

@@williamh.jarvis6795 thank you for sharing your experience! That’s wild. I’d be so creeped out. I’m not one to believe in ghosts, but…45 mins to an hour of walking might cause anyones mind start to wander in that tunnel lol

@hudsonvalleyrailandriverandair

Жыл бұрын

@@williamh.jarvis6795 great discretion on your trek through this landmark

@ciaranmcmanus3840

Жыл бұрын

Just out of interest how far does the crew travel on a shift , so they also overnight at a motel do they do a week or 2 out at a time similar to OTR truckers

I worked in the Hoosac for over a month back in the 1990s, we were cleaning it and installing equipment prior to the install of fiber optic equipment. I was a mechanic responsible for the Hi-railers, compressors, generators etc. Since the tunnel had never been cleaned to my knowledge, imagine the accumulation of soot and diesel smoke from over 100 years of trains. The vertical shaft(s( are still there and open AFAIK. Some of the tunnel pressure you are seeing is going up that vertical shaft. The tunnel as originally built had TWO sets of tracks in it, but the downsizing of rail traffic and maintenance resulted in going to a single-track setup. Another possible problem was the closeness of trains passing, with people running the risk of hands or heads out of windows getting struck by passing trains. COFFINS (personnel refuges) are cut in the sides of the tunnel, to permit individuals to duck into when trains approach. Ask about the blind mice that live in there..... EDIT: The temp you experienced is pretty much year round. it's gets pretty damned damp and cold in there. SECOND EDIT: No, they do NOT grind the rails like you said...the crown allows the wheels to find their center as they roll. Early rails had flat tops, and derailments were common. Crowned rails permit high-speed traffic. Look this up on KZread and other places for comfirmation. They DO grind the rails when crown is diminished due to wear. Look up VIRTUAL RAILFAN here in KZread for videos of that.

@rev.randall2292

Жыл бұрын

Crowned rail and tapered wheels for better rolling and cornering. Just watched a great video on that whole subject with illistrations , cannot find off hand and dont remember the channel. Beleive it was one from a museum somewhere. Still looking.

@jdhrap

Жыл бұрын

Looks like a single track tunnel from the exterior shot.

@ryangrimm9305

Жыл бұрын

@@jdhrap Actually read what I put down. IT ORIGINALLY HAD DOUBLE TRACKS.

@jdhrap

Жыл бұрын

@@ryangrimm9305 sorry foamer - no need to yell.

@prarieborn6458

Жыл бұрын

Wow, Claeaing 100 yrs of soot and debris out of the tunnel must have been an awfully dirty job. Did you find any interesting or unexpected discoveries? i wonder if there are any tales of people having to use the “Coffin” cut-outs.

The tunnel is nicknamed "the bloody pit". It has taken around 180 lives during its construction. When completed it was the largest and longest tunnel in the Western Hemisphere.

In early 1980's I hauled logs off the mountain above and to the left of the tunnel entrance for W J Cowee of Berlin,NY. We could look down onto the tracks from the log landing. LOUD was 6 or 7 B&M F's and GP's at full throttle headed west! Once the engines entered the tunnel it was almost dead silence, all you could hear was the noise of the rail cars. There was a dirt road off MA 2 just before the steep grade warning sign. Great video that brought back many memories of hauling off that mountain for 6 months.

@hudsonvalleyrailandriverandair

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your commentary 👍 glad you enjoyed it 👍

@dodge-ut6ti

Жыл бұрын

What ever happened to WJ Cowee? The mill is still there but is it being run?

@AndrewZolnai

Жыл бұрын

Luv ur comment but what does "B&M F's and GP's" stand for? Thx 4 .the story

Thank you I love trains

I enjoyed watching your video. Also the beautiful change of color on the trees! And the history of the tunnel. Thankyou!

A Great Video ! Awesome ! Air gushing out ! Coolest Tunnel! Longest Train ! Scenic view ,the Brook,Rocks blast ! A Hand Made Tunnel , the. 👍🙏 All who worked and lost lives for building It ! Thanks Hudson! 👍🌹❤️🇮🇳🙏

Impressive video. Thanx for posting

Well done. Very interesting video.

Awesome video!

you allways do a great jobwith your videos

What a gorgeous location.

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

@hudsonvalleyrailandriverandair

6 ай бұрын

You are welcome

I thought it was taking the train a long time to get through that tunnel. They were going slow they knew they were going to be stopping. Yes very cool video

Thank you. Interesting and Informative commentary.

That was awesome! I know the feeling of staying for hours and getting nothing but then hitting the jackpot. You got there at the perfect time.

My Dad was born in nearby Shelburne Falls in 1910. We were railroad hobbyists and I have known about Hoosac Tunnel from a very early age. Dad told me that the construction of the tunnel was started at both ends, and they met somewhere in the middle. It seems to me that he said they were just off a fraction of an inch when they met.

Awesome, Beautiful fall colours and some history thrown in . Picture postcard ! Great job thank you .

What a great train video - awesome 👏 beautiful fall trees ! Coolest tunnel ! Amazing how air gushing out ahead of it!!!

I have been driving school bus in Pennsylvania (Pa) over past 10 years. Pa law states ALL school buses must stop at all RR x-ings. And in this case, the driver would have to call-in VIA the radio & get approval to proceed from the bus garage before the driver can proceed over ANY railroad x-ing that had lights flashing, even if the train is stopped (as seen in this video). Or the driver could proceed if the crossing was guarded by a police officer or railroad employee who clearly signaled the driver to proceed. My wife & I share the same run & take turns driving each day. We cross active railroad tracks 10 times each day we drive school bus. I'm NOT familiar with the school bus laws in Mass.

@thomasmleahy6218

Жыл бұрын

We have the complete stop, open the doors to look at xings in Illinois, and being a brakeman, I've protected xings and signaled traffic past flashing lights and raised the gates when stopped, and gates that were supposed to raise and shut off, but didn't (oh, that NEVER happened). Open a locked box @ xing, and shut off the lights and gates. I don't know if drivers have to communicate with their dispatchers, clearly something that developed with cell phones, plus I've been retired for over 10 yrs, don't know current laws or practices for school busses. PS don't be dropping a dime on that bus, should've edited that!

@alanmydland5210

Жыл бұрын

More regulation, go figure, fk that go!!

@charles6771

Жыл бұрын

I have driven buses, school, Greyhound and school, totaling 51 years. Technically I agree. If there is only one track, it is a rural freight line visible in both directions. Stationary is one locomotive. I would defer judgement to a dispatcher before proceeding.

@lornadunne526

Жыл бұрын

That one guy would make a good Santa!

@lornadunne526

Жыл бұрын

Pretty train.

Great video thank you for sharing.

I miss the area but I don't miss the snow. Great blueberry picking on that side of the mountain and great hunting

Spectacular.... beautiful colours on the hillside...

Great video 👍 Indonesian railfan here 🙋‍♂️

Hiked the full length of the tunnel several years ago. Had a train pass while we were in there. There are places to hide so the engineer doesn't see. The fan in the center shaft is still working and is needed to clean out the diesel fumes. We also went there one night at 12;00 midnight and walked halfway.

Great video, but you would have been more impressed if you were here at the tunnel in the early 1970's. The B&M trains used to come out of the tunnel going at least 40 mph and the wind was strong enough to blow out my Zippo lighter.

@ronaldpellet854

Жыл бұрын

😂😆🤣

@fhowland

10 ай бұрын

amazing how our infrastructure has gone backwards in so many ways

very very nice vid loved it .......I subscribed

I don't guess I've ever seen a crew change at East Portal. Thanks for the post.

What beautiful scenery. And the history and narrative are awesome. Thank you.

That idling sound,OMG thats pure oil burning power ,huge diesel engine sound.

The spillway is not to keep water out of the tunnel. It is literally a spillway from the hydroelectric dam above the site. Take the trail up and you can still see what is left of the dam and lake.

Great video, 8 year old son has watched a couple times. This video started him wanting to learn further about this tunnel and the area in our homeschool so we’ll be digging deeper. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks for the commentary. Great video. Lots of NS running with UP in southern Arizona

I've watched a lot of train videos,this one was absolutely awesome, well done

very cool. my surname has been in that town for a very long time. my great and grandpas are in a cemetery there. I explored once, but never got to see this. thanks for sharing.

Once you spend a summer in that tunnel replacing ties and rail it becomes a little less nostalgic.

Nice job!! Very interesting about the air push 🇺🇸🇺🇸

Awesome video! We got lucky with 2 trains when we were there in Sept 2021 and I didn’t even know it was an active line. We were there to check out the tunnel and hike a trail to the right of the tunnel. There are really cool, quite large, twin waterfalls less than a quarter mile up the trail above the spillway. Thanks for the rail and tunnel info!

Quite interesting.

Awesome video!!! Train looks awesome with the fall colours in the background

If I am not mistaken those three engines up front were pulling 131 wagons. That is an incredible number.

@opiumextract2934

Жыл бұрын

Largest train ive put together was 228...thats a completely absurd length of train

Very nicely shot! Beautiful scenery as well! Overall great!

There's nothing better than seeing a black pony. The memories...always a NS Thoroughbred. 💙

Great video ! Thanks ! The Hoosac Tunnel fascinates me !

What an awesome video, man that is crazy how that fog just pushes out of the tunnel like that!!! Really cool to think how old that tunnel is and that it was hand dug, really cool video, truly enjoyed, thanks for posting! -Ken

What makes this video special is that the lead unit is an sd60e. One of the few sd60s left on NS roster

@michaelmappin4425

Жыл бұрын

Thinking the same thing. Since that pulls my HO model, I was super excited.

Love that fog effect at the portal. Thanks for posting!

Love it, especially the shift change sequence.

Outstanding!!! Thank you so much

It looks beautiful out there! Love the fall colors!

Lots of good info, great video!

Very nice video!

Had never heard of the Hoosac tunnel until your video..The info that you provided and the video itself was really great..Thanks

Fantastic video, thank you I'm from East Hartford, Ct.

awsome video

Wow! A tunnel of 5 miles! Fantastic engineering. Beautiful Autumn colours too. Thank you for sharing your part of the US with me in England. 👍

@hudsonvalleyrailandriverandair

Жыл бұрын

Good day chap

@npr1300A8

Жыл бұрын

@@hudsonvalleyrailandriverandair Good day to you too. I absolutely love everything trains and your trains and railroads fascinate me! Your description of the building of the tunnel and the dynamite blast marks is excellent. Those brave men who built your infrastructure are of course long gone but they live on. We here had Isambard Kingdom Brunel who built Great Britain's transport system from the Victorian era. I'll be watching more of your videos for certain. Have a good weekend.

That was an awesome video. Finding NS power, Union Pacific, a crew change all wrapped into catching a train pushing air out of the tunnel...wow! Nice commentary and history.

excellent..thanks from Ireland !

Really enjoyed your video about the Hoosac tunnel in the beautiful mountains of Massachusetts - no wonder the founding fathers were so inspired - the beauty of North America!

Wild wild history of the tunnel, thanks for the video.

That tunnel wind ain't no joke. I work on commuter rail systems and spend a fair amount of time in the tunnels. The wind a lot of times can blow you over or just as easily suck you into a passing train. Definitely no room for daydreaming when you're 3 or 4 feet from a train passing at 60 to 70 mph in a tunnel, even 30 mph.

Great video...thank you for the post!!!

WOW... This is a Great Video. I Loved how you described everything that was happening, and the train pushing the air was really something. But we all know it has to displace it, and at the same time it is pulling in fresh air from the other end as well. This was very interesting to say the least. Thanks so much for sharing it. Stay safe and keep up the great work. God bless & Godspeed my Friend...

Great, informative video. The tunnel is not well enough known. My MOW heritage dates from the 1870s.

The NS train you Videoed is probably a former Pan Am Southern,now Berkshire and Eastern train after the sale of Pan Am to CSX......As such it's destination is probably Ayer Mass. The giveaway is the empty trash containers moving back east to heir loading point at Ayer.

Interesting............

Just love listening to the thunder of those engines!!!!

What a cool video, and a great spot!

🇮🇪 brilliant capture of the train 🚇 amazing view beautiful waterfall 💧

Nice catch! Fantastic video!👍👍

The Hoosac tunnel is unique in that it was started with picks and shovels and some gunpowder, continued with nitroglycerin, moving to dynamite, and finishing with TNT. The attempt at using gunpowder required so much product and did not yield expected results. Nitroglycerin became available in the early 1860s but its instability made it so difficult to transport and use that it was replaced as soon as the much more stable dynamite became available in 1867. Shortly thereafter TNT became commercially available and was even more stable - and helped finish the tunnel in 1875.

@ryzenforce

Жыл бұрын

Nitroglycerin, dynamite and TNT are all the same.

@FlyingDaddy721

Жыл бұрын

@@ryzenforce Did you google before replying? TNT and Dynamite are not the same. I thought they were but it turns out they are not.

@hakansundberg5105

Жыл бұрын

Nitroglycerine is nitroglycerine(!). Dynamite is nitroglycerine with stabilizers, as stabilizer traditionally diatomaceous earth, "Kieselguhr", a Swedish patent. TNT is Trinitrotoluol.

@tariqayubkhan2361

11 ай бұрын

Thank you for your informative note. Indeed marvellous.

@ocaphoenix5347

10 ай бұрын

Many thx! Enjoy Everyone!🤗

OMG 24 yrs 2 built the tunnel! Those were the days... cool vid, thx4sharing

OMG...That was the best video ever recorded.

That was cool. And fun all at the same time … that’s some tunnel I never knew of it.

Thanks for taking the time to record the Hoosac Norfolk Southern Crew Change along with the phenomenon that precedes the portal being breached 😮 BTW - Greetings from New Zealand 🇳🇿 ❤

Very interesting and informative, thanks!

nice catch and awesome video!

I have stood near tunnels that aren't even that long and there's a ghostly, cold wind coming out of them.

Excellent, Amazing, enjoyed

ATTENTION SUBSCRIBERS AND VIEWERS. I am honestly honored by all the positive feedback you have given me. As you see in my channel video catalog, I drive long distances and am always looking for new vantage points to bring you the most diverse experience in train spotting. Saying that I don't know everything about trains, jargon, historic references ect. I just want you to enjoy your time with my channel. I read every comment and see your home country. Please share like and subscribe. I ordered3"stickers of my logo. I'll take requests for a sticker when they are available ☺️ ODAAT!

Great video. Thank you.

I walked through the Hoosac Tunnel in the mid 1970s with a group of friends from MIT, starting at the East Portal. Dinner at McDonalds in North Adams and a taxi back to the East Portal

Cool tunnel - nice video 👍

Wow so beautiful and super awesome

Nice. Thanks for this sir. 👍

I sure enjoyed this video. As a kid, I went to summer camp in Palmer. A track came right behind our cabins. We could literally catch the train for a short ride to Rondeau's Dairy bar. That tunnel must be pretty high to be able to run double stacks through there.

1st X I have watched your Chnnel. Great Video. God Bless + + +

Great video, keep 'em coming ! Got to get up there one day!

Awesome video nice catch❤️🚂

Norfolk Southern is half owner of this line. NS units are very common here. The UP is a run-through unit and while not common they do show up from time to time. This tunnel was originally double track and had overhead catenary for electric locomotives to haul the trains just through the tunnel. The grade is about 1% and crests in the middle at Central Shaft. Full track speed was 35/40 MPH when I ran trains there in the early 90's. Probably 10 or 25 MPH now. Clearance was increased to allow a domestic/international container stack (one 9'6", one 8'6") but not two domestic containers.

@hudsonvalleyrailandriverandair

Жыл бұрын

Did they lower the rails for clearance?

@stevenconnolly7907

Жыл бұрын

Norfolk Southern owns 100% of this line they purchased the entire B&M West End. They also have all intermodal and automotive rights while, their subsidiary Pan Am Southern operated by ST has operating and industrial traffic.

@stevenconnolly7907

Жыл бұрын

Double Stack clearance has been talked about for years, astronomical costs. 🚂

@briansaxby5357

11 ай бұрын

​@@stevenconnolly7907this line is owned by CSX, not Norfolk And Southern

Love it thank you

Awesome video! Enjoyed viewing this and will be showing this phenomenon to many of my friends. Thank you for posting this.

@hudsonvalleyrailandriverandair

Жыл бұрын

Thank you, please like share and subscribe please

@williamh.jarvis6795

Жыл бұрын

Another bonus here in this video, being described around the 27:15 mark, is information about the partial wall collapse that occurred back not long ago and how the repairs were made. Basically, it was a "cut and re-cover" type of repair. Is it said to be that there is a small brook passing over the top if the tunnel in this area? (Another video producer, posting a silent video of a cab ride going west through this tunnel, replied back to me as to exactly where in his video this collapse was taking place. I saw it where it was starting its slow collapse.)

Yes, they still run the fans. I trimmed the electric lines on Central Shaft road where the fan house is. On a hot summer day the doors swung open and fog began to come out

Great video new here great stuff thanks 👍🏻🚂 TSM

Congratulations. Reaching a pb is always an accomplishment!

Great video. Thanks for making and sharing. Plus I subbed you as well.

nice safety show of the school bus at minute 15.30 !!!!!!

I too have usually been "blessed" with a total lack of traffic whenever I'm trying to catch trains at far away interesting spots. I once spent an entire day diverting off I-90 and getting to and watching Stampeded Pass Tunnel and not one train. It started to get dark so I drove my way back down the precarious USFS mountain roads to Easton only to have to wait for an eastbound rolling through the grade crossing in the dark.

Great video been there a few time s not sure how many trains per day go through now now days.

Great video good catch