Hoosac TunnelIn 1875, the first train passed through the Hoosac Tunnel. On the Boston and Maine Railroad line between Boston and Albany, the Hoosac Tunnel passes through a rugged part of the Berkshires for a length of 25,081-ft (4.75 miles). In Mar 1853, one of the earliest tunnel boring machines ground ten feet into the Hoosac Mountain and died, never to run again. It remained stuck in its hole for many years as a grim symbol of engineering failure. It took several failed attempts, 200 lives and 20 years to complete the tunnel. In 1851, workers used gunpowder making slow progress as each blast produced only a few feet of shattered rock. In 1866, two tunnel blasting tools - nitroglycerin and the compressed air drill - were used in the Hoosac for the first time. |
