The Gallitzin Tunnel was an engineering triumph that helped conquer the steep grades of the Allegheny Mountains by railroad, and together with the Horseshoe Curve made a Pennsylvania mainline railroad possible. Construction on the first Gallitzin Tunnel began in 1849 under Engineer Thomas Seabrook and Contractor Thomas Rutter, with four hundred Irish immigrants from County Cork doing the work. Progress was hindered by water and by an unstable four foot vein of coal surrounded by weak shale and clay, and nearly the entire tunnel ultimately had to be arched for safety. When it was completed on January 21, 1854, the Gallitzin Tunnel became the final link in the Mountain Division of The Pennsylvania Railroad. A second tunnel added in 1904 expanded the mainline rail system to four tracks to Pittsburgh. Because of its crucial role in transporting troops, supplies, and materials for national defense, the Pennsylvania Mainline railway was twice threatened: during the Civil War, when a Confederate raid unsuccessfully plotted to destroy the tunnel, and during World War II, when a clandestine German mission planned to destroy the tunnels but failed after its agents were captured off the Atlantic coast.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Tunnelhill, Pennsylvania · USA