Here we are a little over 70 miles south of Elkhorn City at Starnes tunnel, 517′ portal to portal. This is the south portal, 1911 date, looking north. Again, it’s a horseshoe cross section. The next picture is from inside the tunnel looking north to what is known as the 3rd Clinch River bridge, a 372′ through rivet truss (according to James Goforth). Calvin Sneed tells that the community near here, Starnes Slant, got the name when the crews were laying the railbed around a curve and kept fighting landslides, so the “slanted” the hillside to provide stability. Hence, Starnes Slant.
Blogging the Railroad Tunnels 