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Board Tree Tunnel

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Board Tree Tunnel
South portal of Board Tree Tunnel in 1974
Overview
LocationLittleton, West Virginia
Coordinates39°43′19″N 80°31′49″W / 39.72191°N 80.53021°W / 39.72191; -80.53021
Statusabandoned
Operation
Work begun1851
Constructedbrick and cut stone
Opened1858
Technical
Length2,350 feet (720 m)
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)

The Board Tree Tunnel, near Littleton, West Virginia, was built between 1851 and 1858 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on its main line between Baltimore, Maryland, and Wheeling, West Virginia, under the supervision of B&O chief engineer Benjamin Henry Latrobe, II. The 2,350-foot (720 m)[1] tunnel used a segmental cast iron lining system pioneered on the contemporaneous Kingwood Tunnel on the same line.[2]

Workers were recruited from coal mines in the area to excavate the tunnel. The tunneling operations used black powder as explosive. About 30 deaths and 300 injuries occurred in the excavation of the Board Tree and Kingwood tunnels. The tunnel is now abandoned.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Zembala, Dennis (1984). "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Kingwood Tunnel, Tunnelton vicinity, Preston, WV" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Retrieved 6 August 2013.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b Clement, Dan (1984). "Board Tree Tunnel, Littleton vicinity, Marshall, WV". Historic American Engineering Record. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
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