Western Maryland, Brush Tunnel, September 3,1999

Map

This 1949 topo shows that Allegheny Front is at least three ridges slammed together. Although the scan does not show the the words Brush Tunnel clearly, the tunnel is to the lower left of BM 802 on the C&P Railroad. From the map, the tunnel appears to be at 1,100 elevation.

Entering...

Brush Tunnel is the site of a recent television ad for Pontiac Montana minivan starring 734

Exiting...

Because the Friday train had a fairly heavy load, I just had enough time to hustle across the ridge and catch 734 coming out the west end ;>). This Baldwin doesn't waste time!

With the trip through the tunnel, passengers have just experienced a battery of sensory stimuli as they await the next thrill of the mountain climb!
This is the view of the tunnel several minutes after the train's departure. The vertical fold of a former horizontal rock layer indicates that the Brush Ridge is the line where the Valley and Ridge Region slams into the Allegheny Plateau. The vertical elevation continues to gain as evidenced of this view from between the tunnel and Helmstetter's.

Here is a site about the the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad, the home of WMSR's 734

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad
Cass Scenic Railroad, home of Western Maryland Shay No.6

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