1904 4,350' (1,326m) Aban/Western Maryland Indigo Tunnel and C&O Canal Lock near Little Orleans, MD

West Portal: (Satellite)

East Portal: (Satellite)

Josephh, Aug 2024

Western Maryland evidently prefered timber lined tunnels because that is what they also used for the Stickpile (Greenridge) Tunnel.

Rachel Ray, Sep 2019

p rembisz, Jul 2025

This was Western Maryland's longest tunnel. Linda points to the black blob in the upper-left corner and says that is the top of the tunnel. So this must be the east portal, and the Josephh bat-gated portal at the top of these notes must be the west portal.

Facebook Reel

1951 Artemas and Bellegrove Quads @ 24,000

A reminder that the C&O Canal shared the Potomac River route with the Western Maryland on the Maryland side of the river. The B&O used the West Virginia side of the river until they built their Magnolia Cutoff.

p rembisz

1906-75 Western Maryland Stickpile (GreenRidge) Tunnel

Geographic North Portal: (Satellite)

Geographic South Portal: (Satellite)

When I entered Stickpile Tunnel in Google Maps, it took me to Indigo Tunnel. Fortunately, a USGS map took me to the correct location.

The black blob in the upper-left corner of this view from the C&O Canal Towpath Trail may be the south portal of the tunnel.

Street View, Apr 2016

The tunnel was, and still is, framed with timber.

HAER MD-175-81
Interior of Tunnel No. 1356, Stick Pile Tunnel showing timber framing and missing posts, looking northeast. - Western Maryland Railway, Cumberland Extension, Pearre to North Branch, from WM milepost 125 to 160, Pearre, Washington County, MD

Facebook Reel
It was built in 1906 and abandoned in 1975. It is 1706,5' (520m) long.
Linda encountered a strange streaming fog about 3/4 of the way through. She also recorded some weird noises.

Steve 1828 Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) via OnlyInYourState

Note that Steve's photo below has a much smaller gate than Linda's video above shows. It was taken on June 4, 2011.

Steve 1828 Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) 

Stickpile Tunnel is in the upper-left quadrant of this image. I included the B&O Stuart & Randolph Tunnels and the abandoned C&O Canal to document that we are in the B&O Paw Paw Bends.

1950/67 Paw Paw Quad @ 24,000

I zoomed into the Stickpile Tunnel because it shows the southern portal to be further inland than my satellite location. Fortunately, before I deleted my street view at the top of these notes, I did some more research. I think the topo map is wrong. I normally don't see errors like this in the topo maps.

Digitally Zoomed

River Explorer agrees that the portal is south of Kasecamp Road rather than up by Carroll Road.

RiverExplorer

And I found a couple of Google Earth images that show the portal is near the C&O Canal.

Google Earth, Apr 2025

Google Earth, Apr 2008

Aban/Swinging/Duck and 1890,2006 DGVR/WM Bridges over Roaring Creek in Elkins, WV

(no Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

DGVR = Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad

Aban/Swinging/Duck Bridge

Facebook Reel
It closed in 2016.

Same Reel

Bridge Hutner and Linda call this the Elkins Swinging Bridge, but Google Maps labels it the Duck Bridge. I count five ducks.

Same Reel

DGVR/Western Maryland Bridge

Street View, Sep 2023

2008 photo by Jim Allen via BridgeHunter
A Shay locomotive pulling a special excursion train.

I presume this was the end of the Shay excursion train.

2008 photo by Jim Allen via BridgeHunter

The Shay used the bridge two years after it was reconstructed. BridgeHunter calls 2006 the built date for this bridge.

2015 photo by Jim Allen via BridgeHunter

This is the depot where the DGVR trains terminate. The railroad bridge is peaking out by the tree on the right side of this view. The grey building was a Feed Mill that now houses two museums. [Dennis DeBruler]

Street View, Sep 2023

1901 Aban/New Castle Industrial Railroad/((B&O/BR&P)+P&LE) Bridge over Shenango River in New Castle, PA

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; B&T; Satellite)

BR&P = Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad

P&LE = Pittsburgh & Lake Erie

HistoricBridges
The 370' (113m) long bridge has a main span of 235' (71.6m).
"Situated on a Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad line, this railroad bridge is a breathtaking pin connected truss bridge, and is very tall. As a surviving pin-connected Whipple railroad truss bridge, it is a very rare and highly significant historic bridge. The two span bridge also has a smaller Pratt through truss span as well. The bridge features an ornate portal bracing design, something not often seen in railroad bridges."

Bridges & Tunnels by Sherman Cahal posted four photos with the comment:

Since these photos were taken several years ago, this bridge has since been abandoned.

This unique skewed Whipple and Pratt through truss spans carried the New Castle Industrial Railroad over the Shenango River in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and originated as part of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad before later incorporation into the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad system. Completed in 1901, the bridge played a role in the city's industrial development by linking the BR&P, B&O, and P&LE networks and serving nearby manufacturing plants. Although the line survived multiple railroad consolidations and continued operating under the New Castle Industrial Railroad, its status changed in 2024 when the diamond crossing east of the Mahoning River was removed. That action effectively cut the route, leaving the bridge isolated as a remnant of the city’s once-extensive industrial rail network.

More photographs and historical background: https://bridgestunnels.com/.../shenango-river-railroad.../

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2009 photo by Brian McKee via BridgeHunter

2009 photo by Brian McKee via BridgeHunter
[This together some other photos by Brian show that the flat cars are being stored on the bridge. That is, neither end has a locomotive.]

Facebook Reel

Two of the sources say it was owned by Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh (BR&P). It must have used B&O tracks to connect to the rest of its system at Callery, PA.

Rumsey via Dennis DeBruler

1903-1985 Western Maryland/Coal & Iron Railway (C&I) 1000' (305m) Glady Tunnel

East Portal: (Satellite)

West Portal: (Satellite)

Abandoned posted

I recently revisited the abandoned Glady Tunnel in West Virginia, a 1,000-foot tunnel constructed under Shavers Mountain for the Coal & Iron Railway (C&I).

The Coal & Iron Railway (C&I) was established in 1899 by the West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway (WVC&P) to lay railroad tracks from Elkins to Durbin. In Durbin, these tracks connected with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Greenbrier Division, which in turn linked to the C&O mainline near Lewisburg. By 1903, the C&I line was operational, featuring tunnels under both Cheat Mountain and Shavers Mountain.

By 1905, the C&I had been integrated into the Western Maryland Railway's Durbin Subdivision. Later 1973, the Western Maryland Railway became part of the Chessie System. In 1985, the track segment between the Greenbrier Division and Durbin was closed by Chessie's successor, CSX. This closure followed the discontinuation of the former Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad's Greenbrier Division between Cass and its mainline near Lewisburg.

🔖 Read on about this tunnel and rail line: https://abandonedonline.net/.../west-virginia-central.../

Brad Norris: Is that an actual photograph? Doesn't look like it.

Abandoned: Brad Norris Just careful use of a 3000 lumen flashlight and long exposures.

Abandoned shared

I recently revisited the abandoned Glady Tunnel in West Virginia, a 1,000-foot tunnel constructed under Shavers Mountain for the Coal & Iron Railway (C&I). More photos from this summer and from a few winters ago: https://abandonedonline.net/.../west-virginia-central.../

[The rest of the description is the same as above.]

Bridges & Tunnels posted

[The description is the same except for the link: http://bridgestunnels.com/location/glady-tunnel/.]

Gary Flanagan: Operated several trains thru the Glady Tunnel in my time as an Engineer on the WMRwy. Wednesday nights we would operate a train from Elkins to Durbin to Interchange with the C&O Greenbrier Local out of Ronceverte, WV. Great Memories, Thanks for sharing the pic...

Bobbie Kay Brown Gysegem: Wonder how much water runs through there. Very deep?

Bridges & Tunnels: Bobbie Kay Brown Gysegem It's not terribly deep but the silt gets to you. I sank in about a knees worth of silt.

reddit, shermancahal

Abandoned Glady Tunnel along the Coal & Iron Railway

Maria E. Acevedo plagiarized the photo and the "recently revisited" description.

Sherman Cahal: Another stolen photo from another fake account.

AbandonedOnline
"An overview of the Thomas Subdivision, which extended from W.V.C. Junction (W.Va. Central Junction) to Elkins and beyond." 

AtlasObscura
"Despite attempts by the Forest Service to restore the tunnel for pedestrian use, concerns over its stability forced planners to halt the West Fork Rail Trail a mile south of Glady."

WayMarking

1909 Elkins and 1924 Horton Quads @ 62,500

1925,1978 Carson St. and PC&Y(Pennsy+P&LE) Bridges over Chartiers Creek at McKees Rocks, PA

Carson: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter returns 403; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

PC&Y: (Archived Bridge Hunter is a mess; Bridge Hunter returns 403; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Pittsburgh, Chartiers and Youghiogheny Railways (PC&Y) was jointly owned by the Pennsylvania RR and Pittsburgh and Lake Erie RR. [Jim Donehoo comment via Dennis DeBruler]

The above described shared ownership of the railroad bridges explains the ArchivedBridgeHunter_PC&Y mess. I think there are six entries for the two bridges. It is hard to tell because I kept getting 429s and had to translate archived Google Maps links to real links. I think they have an entry for PC&Y, PL&E and Pennsy for each of the trusses. BridgeHunter being totally broke didn't help. Fortunately, HistoricBridges has entries for the road and railroad bridges.

The blue pony truss bridge is the road bridge and the dark through trusses are the railroad bridge.

Street View, Apr 2025

Two of the four tracks are still in service and are now owned by CSX.

Street View, Apr 2024

HistoricBridges_Carson
"The Carson Street Bridge was originally built as a pony truss, and in 1978 overhead bracing was added. The braces clearly look out of place and context on the structure, however, it is worth noting that imagining the bridge without those braces one realizes this was one tall pony truss. Given this information, the bridge could perhaps be viewed as a historically significant structure that pushed the limits of the truss bridge, building the largest possible pony truss. Clearly, these limits were pushed too far for the comfort of 1970s engineers."

Dave Kuntz Drone Photos posted five photos with the comment: "In McKees Rocks, PA, in sight of the Pittsburgh Skyline, Chartiers Creek dumps into the mighty Ohio River.  Here we see 4 tracks have been reduced to 2, leaving an entirely unused span sandwiched between the active tracks and a road bridge."

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Dennis DeBruler: That is a nice view of the NS/PRR Ohio Connecting Bridge.

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1932,1977-202? Frankfort Road (PA-18) and P&LE Bridges over Raccoon Creek near Monaca, PA

PA-13: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

P&LE: (no Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Street View, Oct 2024

Why should a state do maintenance such as painting a truss bridge when Federal taxpayers will pay for 80% of a new bridge?

Facebook Reel (Shell Cracker Plant)

The deck truss in the background of this screenshot caught my eye.

Facebook Reel

Street View, Oct 2024

The railroad bridge was the P&LE.

1953/55 Beaver Quad @ 24,000