The first company to attempt to build this route was the Louisville, New Albany and St. Louis Air Line Railway. The public used the nickname "Air Line" as the corporate names kept changing because of bankruptcies. The first revenue train through the tunnel was on Sept. 2, 1881. Southern was formed in 1894. Southern acquired this route in 1901. [FloydLibrary]
Another name for the tunnel is Edwardsville, which is the township that contains the tunnel.
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| Satellite plus Paint |
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| Jim Pearson Photography posted Norfolk Southern 4124 exits the Duncan Hill Tunnel as it leads NS 168 at Georgetown, Indiana on October 30th, 2023, as it heads west on the NS Southern East District. According to Wikipedia: The Duncan Tunnel (also known as the Edwardsville Tunnel) is a railroad tunnel in Edwardsville, Floyd County, Indiana, USA. At 4,295 feet (1,309 m) long it is the longest tunnel in Indiana, nearly a mile long. The tunnel was initially built for the Air Line, who were unable to find a suitable route over the Floyds Knobs so they decided to tunnel through them. The tunnel was completed by the Southern Railway in 1881 at a total cost of $1 million. It is currently still in use by the Norfolk Southern Railway. The tunnel passes beneath I-64 intersection #118. Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/8, 1/1000, ISO 310. https://fineartamerica.com/.../norfolk-southern-4124... Worldwide Railfan Productions shared Randall Hampton shared |
The Duncan Tunnel (aka the Edwardsville Tunnel) is a railroad tunnel in Edwardsville, Indiana. At 4,295 feet long it is the longest tunnel in Indiana. The tunnel is 15 feet wide and 24 feet high and was initially built for the Air Line. It was completed in 1881 and is currently in use by Norfolk Southern. Preceding the tunnel, westbound trains have to climb a 2.8% grade.
They changed the name a bunch of times. In 1882 it was renamed to Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis Railroad and in 1889, it became the Louisville, Evansville, St. Louis Consolidated Railway. And in 1901 the line became part of the Southern Railway
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| J.B. Rail Photo added 03/09/2022 - Norfolk Southern 223 with NS 4000 "Blue Mane" leading pops out the tunnel (the longest tunnel in Indiana) eastbound at Duncan just north of New Albany, IN. I was able to maneuver my flying camera (drone) down from right above from Corydon Pike and have visual line of sight to pull off this shot that would be difficult to get from the ground. The tunnel is 4,295 feet long and features about a 2.9% grade near the tunnel according to information I found online. William Clark: There are two engine sitting down at New Albany by the river they are pushers to help the train up the hill through the tunnel. [I could not find any locos in a satellite image.] |
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| Bill Stroud posted Very old picture of the West Portal of Duncan Tunnel early 1900s. |
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| Bill Stroud posted East portal of Duncan tunnel many winters ago December 2000 (Bob Lawson Photo). |
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| Bill Stroud commented on his posting Picture of the same tunnel in 1951 |
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| Street View, West Portal |
Robert Brummett posted two photos with the comment:
Many people think that The Big Tunnel in Tunnelton is the longest tunnel in Indiana at 1750 feet long, but it's not, by a long shot. The longest tunnel is Duncan Tunnel in Edwardsville at a whopping 4295 feet long!
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| Bill Stroud posted Duncan Tunnel East Portal (western bound) photo by Bob Lawson Bill Stroud Southern always ran their engines long hood forward to protect the engineers in case of a collision. |
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| Bill Stroud posted Duncan Tunnel Heading West out of the western Portal |
KevandSus Dickman posted three photos with the comment: "NS 9963 emerges from the Duncan tunnel with a load of steel. Georgetown, Indiana."
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| Richard Koenig posted Duncan Tunnel A selection from my earliest rail photography, here’s an eastbound train of the Southern Railway emerging from the Duncan Tunnel near New Albany, Indiana. Unit 3197 is an SD40 built in December of 1971, just over four years old at the time. One image by Richard Koenig; taken January 17th 1976. Paul Hillman: A rare shot from the east portal. Come to think of it, the west portal is not photographed all that often either. |
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| Richard Koenig commented on Paul's post Yes, this is probably as close as I got to the western portal: BN run through train, probably 1976 or 1977. |
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