Kessler Tunnel is an abandoned

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

in Allegany County, Maryland, located about east-northeast of Oldtown. It was built by the

Western Maryland Railway The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM beca ...

(WM) in 1906. It was constructed with

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

arch portals and the roof has wood planking. The tunnel was named for landowner John Kessler.National Park Service. Washington, D.C. (1981-07-23). National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form. The tunnel was part of a major WM project to extend its rail system from Hagerstown west to Cumberland. The difficult route followed the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

valley and involved construction of four additional tunnels and 23 bridges. The new rail line opened for traffic in 1906. Trains ran through the tunnel until 1975 and the rail line was abandoned that same year by the Chessie System, which had taken over the WM and combined the WM's operations with those of the B&O. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

acquired the tunnel and adjacent portions of the WM

right of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

in 1980. The site is part of

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is located in the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland. The park was established in 1961 as a National Monument by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to preserve the neglected remains o ...

References

* Western Maryland Railway Co., Baltimore, MD (1954)
"Track Chart: Cumberland to Hagerstown."

External links

- WMWestSub.com Tunnels in Allegany County, Maryland Railroad tunnels in Maryland Western Maryland Railway tunnels Tunnels completed in 1906 1906 establishments in Maryland {{US-tunnel-stub

See also

References

External links