{"product_id":"blue-ridge-tunnel-a-remarkable-engineering-feat-in-antebellum-virginia-by-lyons","title":"Blue Ridge Tunnel A Remarkable Engineering Feat in Antebellum Virginia By Lyons","description":"\u003cbody\u003e\n\u003c!-- HTML Generated by Auction Wizard 2000 - http:\/\/www.AuctionWizard2000.com\/ --\u003e\n\n\n\u003c!-- AW2KLOT#:123852 --\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ctable style=\"width:98%;padding:2px;margin:auto;border:5px outset #673434;background-color:#FDF3D0\"\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd style=\"border:1px inset #673434;margin:5px;\"\u003e\n\u003ctable style=\"width:100%;border:0px;padding:5px;\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd style=\"padding:5px\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial Black;font-size:1.5em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eRailroadTreasures\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial Black;font-size:1.5em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial Black;font-size:1.5em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eoffers the following item:\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003c\/td\u003e\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd style=\";padding:5px\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eBlue Ridge Tunnel A Remarkable Engineering Feat in Antebellum Virginia By Lyons\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eBlue Ridge Tunnel A Remarkable Engineering Feat in Antebellum Virginia By Mary E. Lyons\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eSoftbound 191 pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eCopyright 2014\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eContents\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePreface7\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePart I: A Narrative History of the Blue Ridge Tunnel\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePrologue11\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e1: 1845-4913\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e2: 185023\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e3: 1851-5337\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e4: 185451\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e5: 1855-5661\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e6: 1857-5971\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e7: 1860-7379\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePart IL The Laborers\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e8: The Quinn Cemetery89\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e9: Cholera103\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e10: Symbols and Signs117\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e11: Irish Families127\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eEpilogue141\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eAppendix I143\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eAppendix II145\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eAppendix III169\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePreface\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eNewspapers in the 1850s invariably referred to the Blue Ridge Tunnel by that name. Burial records kept during the 1850s at Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia, contain the same phrase. Most important, Irish immigrants writing to or from the Virginia Blue Ridge Railroad while searching for lost relatives referred to the Blue Ridge Tunnel in newspaper advertisements. For historical accuracy, then, I use the original name rather than the more recent names of Crozet Tunnel or Afton Tunnel.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eI also designate 1860 as the completion year for the Blue Ridge Tunnel. True, the first train steamed through the passage in 1858, but work was incomplete. Irish laborers continued to blast away rock in 1859, and one died in a tunnel explosion that same year. The last known person who worked on the Blue Ridge Tunnel's construction was Irishman Tim Callaghan, as reported in the 1860 Nelson County, Virginia census.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eI know of no extant photographs of the tunnel construction or the workers. I have included examples of similar scenes so that readers can understand the difficulty of life at the tunnel and along the tracks. These are representational images, not actual photographs of the Blue Ridge Tunnel or the laborers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eDean Merrin in America Transformed. Engineering and Technology in the Nineteenth Century; Selections from the Historic American Engineering Record states that the Blue Ridge Tunnel was the longest railroad tunnel in the world upon completion. However, William Lowell Putnam writes in Great Railroad Tunnels of North America that the first bore of the Woodhead Tunnel, completed in England in 1845, was almost three miles long.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eThe summit of the mountain at Rockfish Gap is 2,418 feet above sea level. The Woodhead summit in the United Kingdom, where a mountain is defined as 2,000 feet or more above sea level, is 966 feet. I have concluded, then, that the Blue Ridge Tunnel was the longest mountain railroad tunnel in the world upon completion.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePrologue\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eTicks. Mosquitoes. Chiggers. Snakes. It's a sticky hot day in 1976. Two\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003emen are battling the beasts of summer as they hike along a grassy trail. This is no ordinary path through the forest. It's an old railroad track bed, built between 1850 and 1860 at Rockfish Gap, Virginia. Made of blasted rock, the track bed is 135 feet high and 700 feet long.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eMinutes later, the men round a bend. They come upon an eye-popping sight: the east portal of the Virginia Blue Ridge Tunnel. The opening looks like the gaping jaws of a sleeping giant. Its mouth is smeared with more than one century of locomotive soot. Water from mountain springs drools down both sides. Vertical drill holes in the rocky approach to the portal are long and smooth, like teeth.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eThe visitors to the tunnel on this sweltering day are members of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The society has recently decided that the Virginia Blue Ridge Tunnel was one of the \"greatest engineering marvels of the nineteenth century.\" It has declared it a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:0.82em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eOther winners of this prestigious award are the Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument, Panama Canal and Eiffel Tower. The society plans to erect a bronze plaque in honor of the historic tunnel. That's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eAll pictures are of the actual item.  If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad.  Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#CE0000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eShipping charges\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePostage rates quoted are for shipments to the US only.    Ebay Global shipping charges are shown. These items are shipped to Kentucky and then ebay ships them to you. Ebay collects the shipping and customs \/ import fees.   For direct postage rates to these countries, send me an email.   Shipping to Canada and other countries varies by weight.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#CE0000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePayment options\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePayment must be received within 10 days. Paypal is accepted. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#CE0000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eTerms and conditions \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eAll sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described.  Contact us first.  No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding.   \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.5em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eThanks for looking at our items.   \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003c\/td\u003e\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd style=\";padding:5px\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center;width:99.9%;margin:auto\"\u003e\n\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e\n\n\u003c\/body\u003e","brand":"RailroadTreasures","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44241869308100,"sku":"333199187011","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2232\/7333\/files\/57_6b81e7d8-ff69-46af-8aae-8d88569bc55a.jpg?v=1727917035","url":"https:\/\/railroadtreasures.com\/products\/blue-ridge-tunnel-a-remarkable-engineering-feat-in-antebellum-virginia-by-lyons","provider":"RailroadTreasures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}