HomeCemeteriesThe Church Hill Tunnel; Two Portals a World Apart

Comments

The Church Hill Tunnel; Two Portals a World Apart — 26 Comments

  1. When I was a teenager (I’m 62 now), I walked into the east end of the tunnel all the way to the wall and touched it. Just yesterday (4/26/17) my son and I found the east opening again. I can direct anyone still interested how to locate it today. I am also interested in any developing news regarding the tunnel.

    • I was there a week or so ago, as well. Found that the tunnel entrance has 8-feet of silt build-up. Very dangerous for anyone trying to walk into it.

  2. I am married to one of the great grand daughters of Thomas Mason who was the throttle man on 231. She and I usually go up there once a year. Was there on March 5th of this year. It’s nice to see that they keep the entrance of the tunnel as it was when it was sealed. She and I tried to locate the other end last year but it’s hidden about a mile away and not accessible. The water that dribbles out of the sealed side near 17th street is ground water from the hill above it. They were able to remove Mr. Masons body from the engine and bury him in the cemetery next to The Hollywood Cemetery. We plan to go back up soon to visit his gravesite. We were told that there are no plans to retrieve the engine although they say it is still in perfect condition aside from the rust and mud. I recommend people to go visit the sealed side of the tunnel for it is quite a site to see.

  3. So if the engine is a 4-4-0, why does the youtube video called engine 231 show a photo of a much larger and more modern 4-8-4 or 4-8-2?

    Wayne

  4. Hi, folks… My name is Bob Harrison… I was first turned on to the tunnel in the late 60s when a fellow artist friend, Richard Bland, had discovered the eastern portal… Over the years I would on occasion poke around down there behind the corrugated box company…

    In 1996, I had this dream that involved Bruce Springsteen whose band “Steelmill” I had booked in the 60s… In this dream I mentioned that I had written a song about a a collapse tunnel in Richmond… That woke me up and I wrote “Church Hill Tunnel” on a slip of paper, went back to sleep and in the morning saw the note and began making phone calls which…

    …led me to Walter Griggs and over the next several months, with his help on the details, I wrote and recorded an 11 minute, 33 verse song entitled “The Legend of the Church Hill Tunnel”…

    That was just the start… Four years later I organized a memorial of the 75th anniversary of the collapse which came off very well… We had about 75 to 100 people there and many remembered the collapse… One, Pinky Lemon, was the niece of one of the black laborers who is buried in the tunnel… His name was Richard and he was the family “dentist” which meant that he had a way with the kids when it was time to pull teeth…

    Just wanted to weigh in with my 2 cents…

    Bob Harrison @ bobnpvine@gamil.com

    • Thank you to all who are keeping this history alive and paying tribute to the men who worked so hard to keep our RVA growing. I searched and discovered the eastern portal today with my ten year old daughter. It will be a memory we will not soon forget. I may have a new obsession. As the west end is closed to the public and we were denied access to explore, the city of richmond could greatly benefit a platform on the east end to learn from and appreciate our past.

  5. Hello Ja,

    I am the producer for the Churchhill documentary you were asking about. We are in the final stages of post production right now. Hopefully we will have a documentary to share with you and the city of Richmond by Christmas this year. It really is an amazing story and we are very excited we get to share it with everyone.

  6. So whats stopping somebody from drilling holes in the west end of the plug, and simply letting the water drain out?

    • That is such a good question. Thankfully, no one has. I tend to believe that the water is the only thing holding it up from further collapse. Not sure this makes any sense, but were the water removed, there’s a lot of wet clay that’ll do that gravity thing. And a lot of buildings that’d follow.

  7. I hope my correspondence finds you in good health and spirits. I am a history buff and I have been reading about this story for some time. I used to work down the block from the site which has been preserved. I think we should be working on the other side now. From the pictures, it looks a hot mess.

  8. Mr. Swenson, I do appreciate your writings on this subject, as it lets me know that I am not alone in my fascination. Because of this, I am starting on your other articles, as well.

      • Why don’t we just leave the train to rest, maybe recover and take the corpses to there grave, and who would think putting buildings on top of an unstable tunnel is the greatest place to put them?

    • I would like to find the Eastern end of the Church Hill Tunnel. I and my wife thoroughly enjoyed Mr Griggs book about the tunnel. How can I see the other entrance? I believe that it is near Chimborazo Park and the next hill. Thanks!
      Richard Corliss

    • After having read your book, Dr. Griggs, my 33-year-long fascination with the tunnel rebounded with renewed vigor as never before. For this, I thank you.

      There is a certain brick structure that I wholeheartedly believe to be in danger of eventual collapse. The house, which sits on the northwest corner of Marshall and 22nd Streets, sits squarely above the void left by the earh that filled the tunnel. This massive, three-layered brick structure, in its advanced state of lean, as well as noticeably depressed ground and trees around it leaning at its exact northerly angle, is sure to go into this void. The question in my mind is when. Were this house not showing evidence of movement over the space of the last five-months, I would not be overly concerned. Instead, I would look at it as a quirky anomaly. But moving, it is. No one seems overly concerned, though.

      Your report of the damage, and possibly further cave-ins, caused by the 1920s-era steam shovels used to dig into the hillside, is enough to make one wonder what the resulting damage of a massive structure falling into this void would be. Fissures, cave-ins, slides, tunnel-plugs exploding, flooding, ele trical and gas emergencies, and loss-of-life, to be sure.

      -Dana U. Bagby

    • Just purchased your book on amazon. I have a few questions for you regarding researching railroad history if would be willing to answer. Do you have an email address I could contact you at?

Leave a Reply

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>