The Simpson Tunnel, so named for the Simpson Farm it passed under, was a railroad tunnel originally built in 1903 by

U.S. Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

and subsequently used by the Dunlap Creek branch of the

Monongahela Railway The Monongahela Railway was a coal-hauling Class II railroad in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the United States. It was jointly controlled originally by the Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central subsidiary Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railr ...

. The tunnel was made of stone with a brick arch construction. The line was utilized both to serve coal mines and coke works in the area and to interchange with the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

's Fairmont, Morgantown and Pittsburgh line and the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

's Coal Lick Run branch. The last move on that line, and thus through the tunnel, was on November 6, 1975.The Monongahela Railway: Its History and Operation 1903-1993 by Gratz, David E. and Arbogast, Terry E., p. 35 The line was subsequently abandoned by 1976 and the real estate disposed, however the tunnel was not destroyed or blocked at the time. At some point between 2008 and 2010 the tunnel was destroyed, likely due to the construction of the Mon-Fayette Expressway. It is not clear whether the tunnel was blasted or simply filled in.

References

{{Reflist Railroad tunnels in Pennsylvania Tunnels completed in 1903