The Hoosac Tunnel is one of the most historic railroad sites in New England….and it has a shocking secret. Nicknamed “The Bloody Pit,” this place hasn’t just seen one, two, or even a dozen fatalities – hundreds of people have walked in and never walked out. Read on to learn more about this deadly tunnel and its dark history.
The tunnel runs through the Hoosac Mountain Range, all the way from North Adams to Florida. That’s five miles.
Wikimedia Commons
This was no speedy job. Construction lasted 24 years from 1851 to 1875. As time went on, the bodies (and rumors) began to pile up.
Flickr/MOTT
Construction accidents `are bound to happen, but the amount of death this place has seen is staggering. Almost 200 men have died in the Hoosac Tunnel.
Flickr/Eric Herot
Before long, the tunnel had earned itself a gruesome nickname: “The Bloody Pit.”
Wikimedia Commons
One incident stands out as particularly bone-chilling…
Flickr/Professor Bop
On October 17, 1867, an exhaust chimney ignited while men were working inside on a hoist. The explosion rained flaming debris onto the 13 men at the bottom of the 583-foot-deep shaft.
Wikipedia
Rescue attempts were made, but no one believed the workers could have survived the accident. Tragically, they were wrong.
Wikimedia Commons
Months later, searchers made a gruesome discovery: the remains of a raft at the bottom of the shaft. Apparently, the doomed workers had survived for quite a while and tried to save themselves from the flooding of the chimney.
Flickr/zaigee
This place isn’t all death and gloom, though. The Hoosac Tunnel was once considered one of the great engineering marvels of our nation, and was a heavily guarded strategic shipping location during World War I.
Wikimedia Commons
Flickr/MOTT
Flickr/Eric Herot
Flickr/Professor Bop
Wikipedia
Flickr/zaigee
Over the years, the tunnel has earned itself quite the reputation amongst believers in the paranormal. Some claim to have heard the clanging of mining picks and unnerving laughter. Perhaps most unnerving are the reports of a sudden darkness descending in the tunnel, even when visitors are near the entrance and should be able to see the light from outside the tunnel.
Today, the Hoosac Tunnel still sees the occasional freight train. Passenger trains don’t come through the tunnel, but it is a major shipping route.
If you want to check out the tunnel for yourself, there aren’t a lot of options. The tunnel is private railroad property, and poking around is trespassing. For those who risk legal consequences, there’s still the danger of passing trains and getting disoriented inside the tunnel – in the pitch-black, sometimes it’s hard to tell which direction you came from.
Have you ever visited the Hoosac Tunnel? Do you know any more of its history?
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