Exploring the old right of way

[Ray Marinaccio]

I went exploring the Poland branch of the old Bradshaw Mountain Railroad today
We followed the old right of way and located where a few trestles were and found an old tunnel.
I did some research and found this tunnel was blasted into the rock with black powder.
This is a photo of the first end we came to.
I took the photo from the top of a pile of rubble in front of the tunnel.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

We drove around the mountain and found the other end.
You dan see the light from the other end in the last photo.
This end was caved in more than the other.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

When we got to where th town of Poland was We found some of the foundations of the old mill and tipple.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

More foundations.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

I didn't think we would find it but we did.
The enterence to the Poland Walker tunnel.
An almost 2 mile tunnel used to transport ore (by mule carts) from the town of Walker to the mill in Poland.
It had dirt piled in front of the enterence and is more than half way filled with silt from the stream running through it.
The stream of water is how we found it. As we were hiking up a trail to get a better look at the area we noticed a stream running across the path.
I remembered seeing a photo on the net of the opening and remembered seeing the water coming out of it.
I told Bob I'll bet if we followed the stream we would find the tunnel, sure enough.
If you look close at the photo you can see one of the roof support beams.

 

[Chessie6459]

Excellent Photo's Ray :thumb:

 

[babydot94513]

Very nice indeed. It is fun to explore old places and thus preserve a piece of history.