Traveling out of Elizabethton on 19E to Hampton, as you begin to cross the first bridge over the Doe River, look to your right. Down below is the first tunnel on the fabled ET&WNC railroad. Find someplace to do a uie, come back, do another uie and park off the highway just before you get to the main bridge. You can walk on down and you’ll see this very decrepit and probably dangerous, former auto bridge over the Doe. It crosses the Doe over to where the tunnel is. Here it is:
It was kind of cold that day. I am standing (that’s not me on the bridge) with the tunnel behind me, looking westerly. Here’s the tunnel:
It’s not all that long, but it was a cloudy day and you can’t see the other portal. The concrete to the left is a conduit for telephone lines or something. The thing on the right is a container of some sort. The line went through here (coming from Johnson City) and on down the Doe, up Doe River Gorge and out again near Hopson. There are several tunnels in this stretch of line. I’ve got pix. Coming up.
Blogging the Railroad Tunnels 