These are the trestles coming out of both Oakman tunnels at the northwestern portals. On the left are the remnants of the original trestle over the Clinch River. It was abandoned and later disassembled and hauled away by elves or something. The sturdy bridge to the right, probably circa 1936 or so, carries the line from the newer tunnel. We’ll hit Sycamore tunnel next, then the soggy Greer tunnel, near New Tazewell.
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Blogging the Railroad Tunnels 
Does anyone know the history and or dates the old Oakman tunnel was cut. It’s a cool place to visit and explore!
Rich, on the post Oakman Tunnels #1, I outlined the history of these tunnels. Not in depth, though. The Knoxville-Cumberland Gap-Lousiville railroad came out of Knoxville with the intent of getting to Middlesboro and points north, but they got conned into digging the Cumberland Gap tunnel by L&N in 1888-89 and then eventually went broke and were acquired by the L&N. I can’t get a precise date on when the K-GC-L started, but it was probably around 1886 or 87, which means the tunnels were dug in that period.
The original Oakman Tunnels were replaced by the newer ones in 36 along with the bridge due to the impoundment of Norris lake.
The tunnels get their name from the community which was inundated by the lake located at the south end
Thank you! Very interesting!