Hoosac Tunnel - Tunnel History

Tunnel History

The tunnel project was originally proposed in 1819 as a canal to connect Boston to Upstate New York via the Deerfield River on the east of the Hoosac Range and the Hoosic River on the west. That project was shelved, and later reborn as part of the new Troy and Greenfield Railroad. The tunnel took over 20 years to complete, and cost $21,000,000 by the time of completion. The project was nicknamed 'The Great Bore' by critics of the day, including future Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who said he'd like to "wall up a dozen lawyers at one end of the tunnel and put a good fee at the other."

The most important proponent of the northern route and the Hoosac Tunnel was Alvah Crocker, a self-made paper mill owner from Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The Science Channel documentary Driven to Invent: Killer Tunnel called Crocker "The Father of Modern Tunneling" for his influence in advancing the use of geologists, explosives, pneumatic tools and boring technology, and said, "He laid down the rules for tunnel construction even to the present day." In 1841, Crocker formed the Fitchburg Railroad (chartered 1842, opened 1845) between Boston and Fitchburg. In 1844 Crocker incorporated the existing Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad, which ran from Fitchburg west to Greenfield, as well as northward (from Millers Falls) to Brattleboro, Vermont. In 1848 Crocker secured from the legislature a charter for the Troy & Greenfield Railroad (T & G), with provisions for a tunnel through Hoosac Mountain.

The first chief engineer of the tunnel project was A.F. Edwards. In 1854 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provided $2,000,000 in credit to Edward Wellman Serrell and Company, which began work in 1855. In 1856 Herman Haupt took over as chief engineer.

The Western Railroad led by Chester Chapin, which ran a southern route through Springfield and Pittsfield, opposed the Hoosac Tunnel and its northern route through the state. They successfully lobbied to block state funding of the tunnel in 1861, which bankrupted Haupt and temporarily stopped the project. Haupt had excavated 4,250 feet (1,300 m), or about a fifth of the distance, at that point. He left in 1861 and became a Union Army railroad engineer and general in the American Civil War.

In 1862 the Troy and Greenfield Railroad defaulted on its loan from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which foreclosed on the mortgage and took control of the railroad, including the tunnel project. The state sent engineer Charles Storrow to Europe to study modern tunneling techniques, including the use of nitroglycerine and compressed air. In 1863 the state, with Alvah Crocker now superintendent of railroads, restarted the project and made Thomas Doane the chief engineer.

In 1868 the Massachusetts state legislature appropriated 5 million dollars for the completion of the project. Canadian engineer William Shanly (sometimes spelled Shanley) and his brother Francis took over the project from the state, and remained through the completion of tunnel boring. The final chief engineer was Bernard N. Farren, who took over on November 19, 1874 and completed the final work, including enlarging sections of the tunnel, reinforcing weak areas with arching, completing drainage systems and completing the east tunnel facade.

The first train passed through the tunnel on February 9, 1875. Regular service via the tunnel between Boston and Troy, New York began in 1876. The tunnel and Troy and Greenfield Railroad were bought by the Fitchburg Railroad in 1877. The Boston and Maine Railroad bought the Fitchburg Railroad in 1900.