Appalachia's Abandoned Tunnel Explained

[@ITSHISTORY]

Remove your personal information from the web at joindeleteme.com/SOCASH and use code SOCASH for 20% off US consumer plans. DeleteMe International plans: international.joindeleteme.com/

[@mattderynioski1434]

I’ve been to the tunnel on a rainy day to make up for a hike that wouldn’t work. The county took a great idea and did a good job of creating a local destination-it’s relatively easy to get to, free to access, and has lots of signage explaining about the tunnel and its history. I’m happy to see more cool stuff come available in this area.

[@Eastmeetssouth81]

I’m based in Richmond and Blue Ridge tunnel has quickly become one of our favorite day trip spots

[@TheJhtlag]

Yeah, I was there one day when they had luminarias lining the entire tunnel (not for me, for some event) even selling drinks at the east side entrance. It is pretty cool, almost a mile long. I've done a fair amount of hiking on the Appalachian Trail and make a joke that I've hiked 600 feet "below" the AT. Sadly, no one bites.

[@kevinlewallen4778]

I've hiked through this tunnel and recommend it to those who can get there. A few points: 1) At 12:05, you suggest the Appalachian Trail was a government project by the FDR administration. No, it was built by a collection of trail groups, overseen by the Appalachian Trail Conference (now Conservancy). FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps assisted in places, but the AT was the handiwork of enthusiastic volunteers, and still is, mostly. If you're going to make a connection between the AT and the tunnel, the obvious point is that the Blue Ridge Tunnel passes underneath the Appalachian Trail; 2) At 13:49, you call it a "2-mile long tunnel," but this tunnel is just under 1 mile; 3) Your video would be better if you cited your sources.

[@rickysrmartinezmartinez3216]

@@kevinlewallen4778 S WHO ??? Who ASKED YOU FOR YOUR SMART ASS COMMENT NO ONE DID SO STFU

[@steamcheng]

I found the statement that it "separates Manassas from the James River" somewhat confusing, as neither are particularly close to Rockfish Gap, and are not separated by it. Instead, Rockfish Gap is the largest low gap in the mountain chain between Manassas Gap (near Front Royal) to the northeast and the James River (crossing at Buchanan) to the southwest. These two geographical features are some 120 miles apart along along the mountain chain.

[@joegordon5117]

The engineering - and the sheer, brute hard-work - of those who built these early transportation works, without the aid of modern power tools, is still astonishing. My father and I recently visited the tunnel carved out of the rock to allow the canal to run through it, pre-dating even the early railways, at Falkirk, the canal linking Edinburgh on the east coast of Scotland to Glasgow on the west. In a little historical bonus, a couple of the "navvies" (Navigators) who swung the picks and shovels were Burke and Hare, who would later settle in Edinburgh's Old Town and become perhaps the most infamous of that era's "bodysnatchers"

[@xxl2ockl3ottomxx]

Very neat episode. We took a day trip up there last Christmas break and walked the tunnel. The kids had fun. If you go, be sure to take a flash light as there are no lights in the tunnel.

[@greymarket6834]

it is very wild and you can feel the heaviness of the site when you walk through it

[@empressvogt]

I love your channel so much!

[@RetroElijah1982]

Another great video Ryan

[@ITSHISTORY]

Thanks again!

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

1300 meters equals 4,290 feet which is 0.8125 miles. Imagine being a passenger on a train with a steam power locomotive when it entered the tunnel that would trap the smoke inside the tunnel for over eight tenths of a mile. Hopefully the passengers closed the windows before they got to the tunnel.

[@stevenmccaughan2752]

There was a Tunnel that the C&O ran under Church Hill in Richmond Virginia that collapsed killing the crew which was repairing it my father ran The C&O Railroad Yard’s and we would walk up into it.I bought a house and land which abutted the Tunnel

[@greymarket6834]

the appalachian mountains and shenandoah valley are a mystical place. fog will appear and disappear out of no where. you can hear whispers in the trees and the stars light the night

[@greymarket6834]

now do a video on Swannanoa it is like a mile from there

[@Chips2323]

Thank you Professor again, History came to life, thanks Bill, be safe and be at peace...

[@millennialchicken]

WE've got plenty of those tunnels here in the UK, thanks to Beeching. And a few of them are explorable.

[@theodorekonetski1485]

10:20 think about that... the work crews broke through on Christmas day... didn't even give them that day off.

[@kevinfoster1138]

I've only watched to 1 minute and 4 seconds but it looks like it might have been left behind because it's too small for any modern train. 14:45 I nailed it!! It was just too small.

[@NewWitNip]

Wow, awesome

[@charjl96]

I live right by there. Very cool to see it here

[@AdamLassiter-nf5fw]

You do good work. A request a good documentary of the catacombs in France would be cool.

[@UncaDave]

Good video. Want another to do? Check out the Hawks Nest industrial disaster in the 1930’s in Gauley Bridge , WV where a water tunnel that was originally planned as a water source for a hydroelectric power generation for Union Carbide, was expanded when they discovered pure silica to mine which eventually caused the deaths by silicosis of many many workers. It was a travesty disaster! The tunnel is still there and still operates feeding water from the New River to the power station.

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

Interesting, certainly pertinent, to have details of the route and purpose of the railway which would use the tunnel, from where to where else?

[@KitsuneVoss]

I walked the blue ridge tunnel in December.

[@steveshoemaker6347]

Thank you...🇺🇸

[@SEAL_TEAM-Studios]

For those wondering, the rail line isn't fully abondoned, the CSX line actually just got moved over and now goes around the tunnel.

[@TheWanderlustvan]

are bicycles allowed on the ENTIRE appalachian trail (and the tunnel)?

[@yankeeclipper4326]

Bicycles are not allowed on the Appalachian Trail. It is a footpath that is reserved strictly for hiking. A bike would not be able to navigate the AT as it was laid out for foot access only.

[@markmasleh8905]

Grrr. A day late. I was just in that area yesterday exploring Skyline Drive. Never knew this existed, this is definitely some thing I want to see. Next time.

[@LiatheTree]

jeez i can't believe i walked through this tunel without knowing it's history until 2 years later when i watched this

[@Thrakus]

Can you do a vid on the last Opium Den in NYC witch did close in 1959, always wanted to know how they did last so long with the new laws.

[@jetsons101]

Make that a cup of "Irish Tea." 14:34

[@jangles1839]

Thanks for sharing this Ryan! We have something similar here in the upstate of South Carolina called the Stumphouse Tunnel that's now a park but I would love to have you do a piece on it if you would. It's a place I've been visiting since I was a little feller and still find it a fascinating place each time I visit! Thanks & God bless! ~ Scott 💙🙏🏻

[@ITSHISTORY]

Sounds great! Shoot me an email and we’ll try to make it happen for you!! I really appreciate your input!

[@jangles1839]

@@ITSHISTORY done my friend!

[@SMichaelDeHart]

​​​@@ITSHISTORY Ryan, I tried sending you an email last week after watching the California dam disaster. You requested others, so I recommended the Buffalo Creek Mine Dam collapse and disaster in Mingo County, West Virginia in 1972. I have a personal connection to that incident. However it kept rejecting the email.

[@alexsystems2001]

You are in Europe?

[@amazingmenace6168]

BLUE RIDGE TUNNEL. BLUE RIDGE TUNNEL. THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN. BLUE RIDGE BLUE RIDGE TUNNEL.

[@LetsTakeWalk]

I understood that reference.

[@bellefastbelle5686]

Unexpected Avatar! ❤

[@davidw6005]

Albemarle & Waynesboro aren't Appalachia. It is the Blue Ridge Mountains & the Shenandoah Valley ( yes, part of the Appalachian Mountain chain, but not Appalachia) Cool tunnel nonetheless.

[@billotto602]

I wish my wife & I could walk better. We'd love to see this. Sigh...😪

[@Simcitywok]

Are we sure this wasn’t aliens?

[@TechNWRO]

I heard tell that a young Earl Hamner Jr. ran through that tunnel on a dare........... 😗

[@AdamLassiter-nf5fw]

😎

[@patrickevans6712]

Try the story of Sir John Yeamans moving from Barbados to Carolina in the mid-1600s. Why did he leave Barbados? Who killed Benjamin Berringer? Which one is the real father?

[@alexius23]

🚂🚂🚂🧙🏻‍♂

[@pantherplatform]

Wanna brake rock go to North Korea. Lots of rock to brake there. Want to smoke rock? Yeah, me too.

[@jadedrealist]

So a bunch of people died for a tunnel that got abandoned? Kinda sad.

[@UptownMarty]

America in a nutshell…Just like how they killed millions of slaves just to say they were 3/5s of a person and then eventually freed them🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️

[@five12man]

It's a tale as old as time, most of us die for nothing

[@baloo_2228]

Seems like it got plenty of use for the better part of a hundred years. I wouldn’t call it for nothing.

[@AdmiralJT]

Wait until you learn about how many people died for wars that were meaningless in the end

[@leperpens]

What happened to this channel? It's all "why did this bridge meant for horse-drawn carriages become abandoned?" It's worse than that one movie channel that also used to be good, that now does 83 videos about Apocalypse Now.

[@ITSHISTORY]

I’m amazed by old American infrastructure and the stories of the people who created it. Urban decay is the closest thing we have to a tangible past. With that in mind, we will continue to explore these monuments.

[@towgod7985]

@@ITSHISTORY Great video, keep it up. Ignore the troll.

[@leperpens]

​@@ITSHISTORYfair enough. It's not for me. But why didn't you start your own channel instead of piggybacking someone else's built up audience?

[@timewave02012]

I didn't even know this channel was ever anything different. I find abandoned infrastructure really interesting. Apocalypse Now also happens to be one of my favorite movies. Niche appeal is the best part of KZbin. I used to see comments suggesting some KZbinr should have a TV show, but all good TV shows eventually either get cancelled or have to change format to appeal to larger audiences.

[@Su-Jo]

@@leperpens what channel are you talking about? I'm asking honestly because I have no idea.

[@gonsolop2429]

Trillions of our tax dollars on this breezeway. Why not go ahead & open a theme park here, so that you freeloaders can pay our tax dollars back in record time? I'm not discrediting picturesque views & groundhog holes, nor the bears & mtn lions that each visitor should fear for natural good reason. But since you guys all got your hands in the till for this project, do please find a means too pay it all back. Lead by example. Show us all the way.