In the early 1900s lucrative coal and steel trafficsparked the Western Maryland Railway's ambitiouswestward expansion from Baltimore. Constructiontook place in two stages: Big Pool, MD toCumberland (59 miles); Cumberland to Connellsville(87 miles).

In order to compete with the existing B & ORailroad, nine tunnels and over thirty bridges andviaducts were built to shorten the route and lessenthe grade

Here at Big Savage, tunneling went well until workersencountered soft, wet mud and sand 600 feet fromthe western portal. Conventional methods did notstem the flow so air locks used in New York subwayconstruction were brought in. The tunnel wascompleted in 1912, but the soft material continuedto plague the railway, requiring continual repairs.

TUNNELING BIGSAVAGE MOUNTAIN

Will

iam

Pri

ce p

ho

to, c

ou

rtes

y o

f th

e W

illia

m P

rice

an

d H

arry

Ste

gm

aier

Rai

lro

ad C

olle

ctio

n a

t th

e Le

wis

J. O

rt L

ibra

ry, F

rost

bu

rg (

MD

) St

ate

Un

iver

sity

.

Building a better route west

Freight train heading west c. 1954. After the rail line was abandonedin 1975, the tunnel’s deterioration accelerated. In the late 1990s, theAllegheny Trail Alliance garnered support for the tunnel restoration.Work included extensive rock-bolting of the original liner andinstallation of a new liner with an aggressive drainage system tominimize the freeze/thaw conditions that damaged the tunnel in thepast. It was completed in late 2003.

Cross-section of the tunnel fromEngineering Record, December 23, 1911.

Photo credit Mary Shaw

The sands are still running.Look at the water dischargepipe and you will see the redsand in the ditch.This is thesame problem encounteredby workers 100 years ago.