Here we are at Skaggs Hole (or just Skaggs or Skeggs) Tunnel, all 519′ of it. This one’s near Bartlick in Dickenson County. It was faced up in 1931. It’s centered at 37.256862, -82.327199. A trestle comes into the tunnel over the Russell Fork River…we’re about 7 miles, trackwise, from Elkhorn City. It was a long side road drive to get access to this one. We’d parked our car and were standing at the track kind of looking down the line when a motorcycle came up. Lee flagged the guy down and asked him about the tunnel. The guy knew where the tunnel was and gave us great directions. He worked in Kingsport, it turned out, but he lived in Bartlick, with his new bride. Nice guy.
The other portal of Skaggs Tunnel. Stand here, turn around, and you’ll be looking down the track as the old Clinchfield rolled south. We’ll be rolling south, also, as we head on down to Hills Mills and Russell Tunnels. Did I mention how cool, temperature-wise, these tunnels are on a hot day? And they’re bloody freezing in winter…literally freezing. And Skaggs Hole, by the way, is a feature in the river near the tunnel’s Elkhorn City portal.
Blogging the Railroad Tunnels 