This video reminds me of a poem by Bertolt Brecht which I heard in a video talking about the awful things migrant workers in the gulf countries go through, it’s called “Questions from a worker who reads” it goes: Who built Thebes of the 7 gates ? In the books you will read the names of kings. Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock ? And Babylon, many times demolished, Who raised it up so many times ? In what houses of gold glittering Lima did its builders live ? Where, the evening that the Great Wall of China was finished, did the masons go? Great Rome is full of triumphal arches. Who erected them ? Over whom did the Caesars triumph ? Had Byzantium, much praised in song, only palaces for its inhabitants ? Even in fabled Atlantis, the night that the ocean engulfed it, The drowning still cried out for their slaves. The young Alexander conquered India. Was he alone ? Caesar defeated the Gauls. Did he not even have a cook with him ? Philip of Spain wept when his armada went down. Was he the only one to weep ? Frederick the 2nd won the 7 Years War. Who else won it ? Every page a victory. Who cooked the feast for the victors ? Every 10 years a great man. Who paid the bill ? So many reports. So many questions.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

pinned!

@ethansloan

2 жыл бұрын

That is possibly the best youtube comment I've ever read.

@korakys

2 жыл бұрын

For me the moment of illumination came upon reading _A People's History of the United States_ by Howard Zinn. Realising that the history of the unnamed was likely dramatically different from the history of the named and that only one was chronicled.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

@@korakys Yeah that's very relevant! That's kinda why I was so impressed with this book: she has extensive records of enslaved workers and dead, which is just really hard to find without going into obscure archives. And same for the Irish workers and child laborers too. It's just a lot easier to find stuff about how awesome trains are as opposed to finding stuff about the cemetery they had to build near the tunnel. It's so cool she really did her homework when, for such a niche project, she could have just built up the tunnel a bunch.

@IanZainea1990

2 жыл бұрын

excellent. One thing I really appreciate about early Soviet public art and New Deal era public art, is the focus on the common man. Teachers, laborers, clerks, etc. were the focus. Not the Carnegie's and Rockefeller's and Ford's... it was art for the people and about the people.

"I drove out there at the break of dawn" "It's 11:26 am" 🤣🤣🤣

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

dawn is a state of mind?

@whyamiwastingmytimeonthis

11 ай бұрын

Hey now, mornings suck, nothing wrong with waking up at 10 am if your schedule allows for it

There are a lot of similar tunnels and shafts such as this in West Virginia. Old mining towns and derelict train tracks. It's interesting to explore.

This is the dark history of the railroad, but thank you for covering it. This is an amazing video, it covers both the good and bad of railroad history, something that is somewhat praised in America. Many people don't know the heart, sole, and body that went into the railroad back then. Thank you 🙏

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

All credit to Mary Lyons and her book! But thanks.

We used to bike through old train tunnels like that in WI. They were a lot scarier at 8

Hannah Fry has a video on Numberphile about the math involved in digging tunnels like this. These guys in Virginia probably used the same technique that had been used for a couple thousand years.

This tunnel is less than an hour from my house. I have friends that live even closer in Crozet, a town named after the French engineer. You picked a good time to go, when we went there were so many tourists, and so many cell phone lights, the tunnel wasn't even dark. The best part about the whole tunnel is the bricks. I cannot believe how many bricks we're in that tunnel. It's good to hear the engineering side of the story, I wouldn't have guessed that this was built before Dynamite was invented. Great video Phil.

Really well done. This is a solid counterpoint to the firehose of "isn't this cool?" historical engineering media.

There was a DVD I watched a lot as a kid called "Building Big: Tunnels". They had a civil engineer talk about the history of major engineering feats like tunnels, bridges, skyscrapers, that kind of thing. An interesting additional resource in the general area if anyone is interested. I have no idea if they still sell it.

Minor point from an Irish perspective - the term "Potato Famine" is often used in the US. The failure of the potato crop was the trigger, but the famine was caused by exports of food (often under armed guard) to Britain. These exports never stopped at any time, even when millions were starving to death. The "Great Irish Famine" is a more appropriate term as it doesn't frame the famine solely in terms of one crop. Your video is fascinating. I missed an opportunity to go through a similar tunnel in France years ago. Really hope I get the opportunity to go back to it :)

After travelling through some moderately wild natural tunnels I don't think I could ever find a built tunnel to be particularly scary, especially not one where you can see the light at the end! The only time I've truly been scared underground was crawling through a crack in the rock while deep underground (without the guide I would have never made it back to the entrance), as I squeezed through the gap I could feel the solid rock against my stomach and maybe 100 metres of solid rock above scrapping the clothes on my back. I just had to trust that the guide knew this wasn't a dead end. However I also once took someone who was afraid of heights up to a moderate height in a cherry picker (it was necessary for a job). That was when I truly understood that people experience fears of heights and depths differently, there is no way his fear wasn't genuine.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Ok that definitely wins.

@kaitlyn__L

Жыл бұрын

I had a similar experience in a cave, and I never want to go caving ever again!

As a corollary, it's a testament to good regulation and social change that we can do big projects like this now without loss of life generally, at least in the Western world. Developing countries obviously are still figuring things out, but they are generally safer too.

@EricDMMiller

Жыл бұрын

Western countries are losing the capabilities of doing these kind of projects. We have passed the high watermark of human progress. It's all downhill from here.

Good for you! And thanks for the background of the human loss in some events of progress. You reminded me of an adventure when I was in Cumberland, Maryland, for work. I was out jogging on the C&O towpath and I noticed an old bridge across the Potomac. So I crossed and saw what I later learned was the one-mile Knobley Tunnel. Alone, running clothes, no light. A mile of fantasizing about what critters would attack me. I got to Carpandale, West Virginia, and clambered up a slope to a road. I successfully got back to Cumberland. Both the stupidest and best thing I have ever done.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you kept your sanity! I would have been imagining so many animals….

I’ve been to this tunnel and it definitely helps when there’s a lot of people around and it’s not raining. I’ve always wondered where this thing came from, and my bigger question when walking through it was why it transitions from rock to brick about halfway through it. It’s super weird

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah my sense from the book is it was just the different rock types necessitating it in some places and not others. It is weird though.

@bituniverse8677

2 жыл бұрын

@@PhilEdwardsInc I honestly thought this was some sorta tunnel for a rich person to get to a now gone house or some weird crap. Why would you want brick in a train tunnel? No one will see it and it'll get all black and covered with carbon

that seems like the kind of tunnel that 80's middle/high school bullies would force their victims to walk through

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

“Come on, Nerd! Are you gonna cry to your mommy?” (Magical tunnel beast appears to help main character get the girl and/or save the town hardware store.)

@AntonWongVideo

2 жыл бұрын

@@PhilEdwardsInc somebody write this down!...and then get a time machine to pitch it to an 80s film producer

The most under rated educational youtuber in my opinion

Thank you, Phil, for this excellent video. In Switzerland we have quite some tunnels too. The stories about the men behind the impressive construction is very similar. Mostly Italian, very poor and willing to risk their lives, worked under horrible conditions. I agree: We shouldn’t forget this men (and families at home)!

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

interesting about the similar dynamic!

This was a great video. Really similar place is the trail of the Hiawatha in Idaho/Montana, the rails to trails movement is an amazing development for public parks!

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

It’s 👍.

@TallDynamicFella

2 жыл бұрын

I was thinking of this exactly watching the video. Rose the Hiawatha trail a few years ago and again this summer. Spectacular trail and great views along with some cool history as well.

A beautiful story, Phil. A little darker than your usual videos but your light personality did perfect to not lay it on too thick. You've quickly become one of my favorite KZreadrs with this channel

A quick response to your question at the end of the video: I think your work both on vox and on your channel here is great! And part of the joy of a personal channel is that it's personal - just keep doing what inspires you and I'll certainly be hanging out over here with one foot in the cheerleader section :) If I had to offer a personal opinion, I'd say that it's your deep dive into design history (and present) with unabashed takes on the power-politics at play that draws me into your videos both here and on Vox. Has anyone ever told you that you are kind of like the 99% invisible of KZread? I'd say that - and I much appreciate it.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks!

As always, I just love your content. Anything you do will be amusing to watch, maybe your tone, your editing, your topics. But I really look forward to getting a notification from you.

Great video! Love how you show obscure examples like this and tie it into a bigger lesson on history. Keep it up!

I really appreciate these videos. Your personality, and video composition is just great. Thanks for doing it.

yes, we need to see more scary tunnels. or other weird places.

In the UK there are quite a few abandoned railways because beaching (a train hater) killed all of the "unprofitable" railways EVEN THOUGH A RAILWAY IS NOT MEANT TOO BE PROFITABLE ITS MEANT TO HELP PEOPLE MOVE AROUND

Super cool video. I'll have to file this info away for some time when I'm driving through the area and not in such a hurry. I did lots of caving years ago, so I don't think it will affect me that much. Years ago my fiancee and I spent the weekend in Asheville, NC. I wanted to rollerskate down a long stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway because of the long downhills. I ended up doing I think around 6 miles. I didn't realize there was going to be a tunnel, and I had a hard time seeing and was very nervous inside it. My fiancee was following behind in my car and was scared she was going to hit me. Afterwards, we realized we could have seen so much better if we'd just taken off our sunglasses. Doh!

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Wow that sounds insane (and awesome)!

There's a similar tunnel on the Hiawatha trail on the idaho/Montana border. That one is 1.6 miles long and has a similar backstory. However, during the big burn of 1910, trains rounded up doomed civilians and took them to the tunnel to escape the inferno. My great great grandfather was of those people saved. Safe to say I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the people who built railroad tunnels

Hope I have these kind of buildings near me so I can just explore it.

I’m so happy to see this guy go from below 50k a few months ago to over 100k. He 100 percent deserves all of the success.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

This guy says thanks!

If you think that tunnel is creepy you should hear about Moonville tunnel in Ohio, there’s not even a paved road through it and the town it went too no longer exists so it’s just a huge creepy tunnel in the middle of the woods down a gravel road.

@andrewlwatts

10 ай бұрын

Moonville tunnel also has a ghost story about a drunken brakeman who was killed by a train when he stumbled onto the tracks trying to signal it to stop, and now haunts the tunnel, waving his lantern. So people like to head out there at night and get scared, because of course someone will have brought a lantern out there just for that purpose. The actual tunnel is only a couple hundred feet deep though, not almost a mile like the one in the video.

These videos are so captivating because there’s a perfect mix of humour, information, and visual aspects. Well done I love these videos and you’re and amazing creator.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

That’s awful nice - thanks!

The droplets on your glasses were great for atmosphere and narrative. Felt like an indie thriller.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

I need to hire a droplet sprayer for future productions.

@jimurrata6785

2 жыл бұрын

@@PhilEdwardsInc Glasses wrangler, or _fluffer_ ? 😂

Leave it to Phil to bring us the most random and most interesting content. So cool!

Awesome video Phil! Exactly what the doctor ordered in these stressful times.

love these videos, very cool tidbits about history and other topics. that tunnel would terrify me

Yet another amazing video, I’m shocked this high quality of a video isn’t getting millions of views.

There's an abandoned train tunnel near Richland, Washington that is part of a foot path. It's not as long as the tunnel in the video but it was super scary to walk through. What scared me the most was looking up and realizing how tall it was. I got a serious sense of vertigo.

Great video, I love your content and it inspires me to keep doing what I do

Enjoying all your videos! Thank you!

Me: that's not scary at all Also me: watching this in a brightly lit room

Nice man! I've commented on a few of your other Virginia videos, because my wife and I got stationed out here and are in Williamsburg, so I'm quite familiar with these locations you've talked about. I've been curious about this bridge in passing, but now I want to visit it! Thanks for the content, yet again! What a historic state, all things considering

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

A lot of stuff to see, it’s crazy.

It dawned on me halfway thought this video that the reason I like your video production and editing style so much is because it’s Gonzo Journalism

@PhilEdwardsInc

Жыл бұрын

“We were somewhere around Crozet on the edge of the tunnel when the drugs began to take hold….”

I love the serious vibes mixed with all the little jokes!

I live near C'Ville, used to live in Crozet, yet I've never even heard of this tunnel. Thanks Phil! You're the GOAT (as the youths say.)

It looks like the Glenbrook Mushroom Tunnel. They stored chemical weapons there during the world wars and then they grew rare mushrooms there and then it was shut down. They still have some of the equipment there. Edit: It's in NSW Australia and it was also for tunnelling through the mountains which are called the Blue Mountains they had a tramway that went from Penrith to Lapstone and they stopped the tramways and made the tunnel a weapons storage facility.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Wow this sounds crazy.

I love videos like these! Please do more!

It’s amazing how dark it is in there. Makes you feel better about the copious amount of lights we put everywhere.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

It felt like a sensory deprivation tank.

Another great video Phil, you really inspire me, shout out from South Africa

Another great video Phil. I used to live am hour south of that tunnel and been in it and visited natural bridge then too. It was amazing and sad like you mentioned.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Natural Bridge is so awesome. I wanna see that light show.

Hey, big fan of your work :)

Really good one I really enjoyed listening to this

You’re a wonderful story teller

I enjoy these types of videos.

And at 1:25 . . . "I drove out there at the break of dawn . . . It's 11:26 am." This is why I keep coming back Phil. This is why.

Nice video. I do like the history of the development of technology. I also like your production style.

I’VE BEEN THERE! Awesome trail to walk on.

Nice, I'll be heading out there for sure! I'm surprised you didn't mention the Church Hill Tunnel too.

Two weeks ago, I realized: Huh, I will get a video for my birthday. And now, the video came out :D. So, thanks for the cool video ;-). Jokes aside: In Hamburg, Germany, there is the old Elbtunnel which you can walk through by foot. It kinda reminds me of the one you are talking about in the video, but I think they have lights installed there ;-). Keep doing great stuff like that!

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

ooohhh yeah the no lights was key but at least you still get the nice natural air conditioning of a tunnel

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Oh and happy birthday!

@squado_6119

2 жыл бұрын

@@PhilEdwardsInc Thank you =)

This was a cool video. I'd watch more stuff like this.

Philadelphia Edwards you’ve done it again

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for using my full name as a sign of respect.

"It's too subtle. I can't taste the potato chip." 🤣🤣🤣

Thank you for the respect you give to ALL workers, including the less known irish-american.

Several years ago I accompanied a friend (who's always looking for these kind of places) through an abandoned 2-lane tunnel that was once part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. At regular intervals there were cut-outs in the tunnel wall that probably once held electrical equipment for the tunnel's lighting -- and in one of them some weisenheimer left a mannequin head to startle or amuse subsequent explorers.😛

Near my city is a tunnel with the same rail related history and it was built 1901-1902 named Schustersteintunnel. Yes it's German. But in its Restauration it got lights and is now part of a bicycle road that is build on the old railway.

A lot of West End neighborhoods (far West End, to be fair; Short Pump and environs) are literally built on top of old coal mine tunnels. It's a whole thing. I know of a specific pair of lots in one of those neighborhoods off of Church Road, and they are (used to be, anyway) always bundled together, because a house sits on one, but the other lot is an indemnity nightmare, because, well, coal shafts, basically.

I got almost halfway through the Hoosac Tunnel in the early 90's. Scaredest I've ever been. Thanks for the the ptsd :)

Camera man be like - i survived the word's scariest tunnel too

@PhilEdwardsInc

Жыл бұрын

camera man and guy are one and the same

Great video but my goodness this one was heavy, a lot I’ve never thought about.

You are a great story teller.

We have a similar tunnel to this, It was a Railway Tunnel. Not far from the current railway.

What a bummer about those Reese's peanut butter cups. Chocolate and potato chips go really well together normally

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

They aimed too high.

Love your videos, the one about the steel houses was pretty kool and made me wonder about the system of phone numbers back in the day. Why and where did they get names for exchanges like Murray8 and Niagare4. Might be interesting maybe not, thanks for all the work

Don't think I've been to that tunnel.The Great Allegheny Passage has quite a few good ones that give me anxiety. Isn't it amazing how far we've come?

I’d love a video about the Hawaiian isles.

Just found this channel, great format though I would have liked to see more detail in the tunnel brickwork.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I hear ya! I'll try to find more time for the next shoot of something like this.

I love how u make ur videos. It’s a mix of many KZread video styles but it just works!! I would love to see more of this especially if u could travel to Europe and educate Americans!!!

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Oh I’d never be finished there!

@Correcti0n

2 жыл бұрын

@@PhilEdwardsInc thats the point 😉 keep up🔥

The “brink of dawn” I left at 11:30am 😂😂😂

such quality content

Great video

Thank you for shining some light on the human cost of such achievements. :(

You should also look into the Tunnel to Nowhere in Great Smokey Mountains Nat'l Park, the only part of a promised ring road for former residents to access their ancestral burial grounds/graveyards when the Fontana Dam forced hundreds of people out of their homes.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

I'm going there this fall - I'll look for it. Thanks.

it was me. whenever you weren't looking, i just blew the candle out. hope to see you again next time!

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Dang it Mike!

I live in Northeastern Tennessee now, and I am seriously going to go here for my next vacation, going to be wayyyyy better than going back up to Illinois.

I never heard of this tunnel before seeing your video. I will certainly go there and walk through it. Thanks for telling this story and make me aware this amazing 19th Century accomplishment.

@PhilEdwardsInc

6 ай бұрын

it's pretty cool!

Nice! I appreciate the candor, as always. I can’t actually watch shows that highlight engineering marvels of the past due to the tragedies so often associated with their creation. Even in modern times, especially in countries where the glut of wealth is palpable, we learn of engineering projects that bring in people from the poorest counties to build the tallest skyscraper. For the week or so they hold that title. It’s hard to see the continued view that the poor are disposable. Or any people, really. I do love the lack of machismo as you take on something uncomfortable while using humor to manage. Your sense of humor rocks, please keep up the good work!

They have a similar thing in Bath, England. It’s a really popular cycling route now

How do you recover from having your hands blown off?

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Good q. Esp. in 1858.

@beetooex

2 жыл бұрын

I'll ask CGP Grey. 🤣🤣🤣

6:31 Would still love to see you cover the Great Famine, and discuss how while the English didn't cause the blight... they caused the famine. Hording food for rising prices, refusal for aid, etc. Pretty horrible what they did. Contrary to popular belief, the Irish ate plenty more than potatoes.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

Finding out the proper name made me very curious about the real story! have only glanced it in other books…

Fuckin heavy, man. Good work.

I’ve been eating pizza near there for years and have yet to go 😮 thanks for posting as always fellow Richmonder!

@PhilEdwardsInc

Жыл бұрын

you gotta take the trip! very spooky!

Reminds me of the creepy tunnel scene in the movie Men. I had to go check just to make sure it wasn't the same one lol.

"I survived the world's scariest tunnel" Nowhere near as scary as the Hell tunnel.

Another excellent video, thanks phil!

Really nice.

You need william osmans windshields wiper glasses

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

desperately!

Pretty interesting tunnel, and glad you made the point about those that gave their life…but whats up with the studio? Is there more to that story? lol

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

It’s becoming a bit of an Apocalypse Now situation.

The Hoosac tunnel in Massachusetts deserves the "scariest tunnel" title alot more than this one. 193 people died there and it is 5 miles long of complete darkness. It was also built with no dynamite and many people have said they heard ghosts in it.

@PhilEdwardsInc

2 жыл бұрын

5 miles. oof!

It reminds me of Charles Dickens’ The Signalman, particularly the 1976 adaption.

Great tunnel. I am wondering if you could make a video about why most of Staunton wasn't burned down during the civil war

Ah, so that must be where where the other Phil’s come from! The tunnel leads to a different universe! Brilliant! I love joking about this stuff, but seriously I do find this piece of history amazing. Virginia has always been a really cool state for me whenever I find myself there because of all the mountains and tunnels. I hope I remember this little factoid whenever I get to visit there again. I am really compelled to find that tunnel now and experience it… And who knows; maybe I’ll end up with clones of my own. ;-)