Every so often a question comes up about the Deer Creek Tunnel under Walnut Hills, such as these two threads, among random mentions in others:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=14681.0

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,7694.msg487604.html#msg487604

 

This is the deep-level incomplete 9,000 foot railroad tunnel from the mid 1850s, not to be confused with the CL&N's later high-level tunnel under Oak Street and short underpass at McMillan, both of which remain next to I-71.  I had a bit of a breakthrough in my research on the tunnel yesterday when visiting the Hamilton County Engineer's office.  They have very detailed maps of the CL&N Railroad that also show the entirety of the tunnel, what was completed, what wasn't, what was walled open cuts versus arched tunnel, and they also show all the shaft locations and completed areas to either side.

 

I plugged photos of all the maps together and aligned them with the current CAGIS and 1912 topo maps.  I'd already had the portal locations pretty much correct, but the shafts are in completely different spots.  The published diagrams from the 1927 Beeler Report on the rapid transit system, and other maps all show the shafts in much different places.  Where they really are makes much more sense though, being directly adjacent to streets, or in one case right in the middle. 

 

Anyway, I updated the history write-up and the map on my website.  The history is rather long to quote in its entirety here, but you can find it and the map at the following links:

 

http://www.jjakucyk.com/transit/railroadinfo.html#cd

http://www.jjakucyk.com/transit/map.html

 

If you want to see the CL&N maps and overlays I did, you can find them at the links below.  The first PDF is the stitched together maps with current CAGIS roads and dimensions.  The second PDF shows just the stitched together maps.  Beware they're both 33 MB files.

 

http://www.jjakucyk.com/transit/deercreek/deercreekfinal1.pdf

http://www.jjakucyk.com/transit/deercreek/deercreekfinal2.pdf

This is fantastic. I can't wait to pour through all of this. I hope I'll understand the Cincinnati transit/tunnel history a lot better after reading your work. It's such a cobbled mess to a non-native.

Awesome work, jjakucyk!!! Really great. Although, another unfortunately incomplete rail project in Cincinnati. :(

 

Scrabble, do you ever consider moving to Cincinnati? It seems like it might be a good fit for you...other than, Cincy doesn't need your votes. ;-)

It's certainly not the only one either.  The Cincinnati Western Railroad, another mid-1850s project, was also scrapped midway through construction.  They started building a tunnel under Fay Apartments that was never finished, and there's grading for the roadbed in Mt. Airy Forest, Triple Creek Park, and points north in Colerain Township. 

What are the chances the vertical shafts are still there?

this is great research!

now we just have to work on incorporating these tunnels into future rail plans.  (if the city used all the partially completed projects they could really get a system- intracity or intercity up and running with some serious savings. Of course that depends on the tunnels' current states)

this is great research!

now we just have to work on incorporating these tunnels into future rail plans. (if the city used all the partially completed projects they could really get a system- intracity or intercity up and running with some serious savings. Of course that depends on the tunnels' current states)

And if they meet, or are even in the ballpark of, modern codes/requirements.

I have no clue about the shafts Ram23.  I suppose they could still be there in some form, but I'd bet they're either filled in with rubbish (convenient neighborhood dumps) or sealed under some concrete bulkhead a few feet below ground.  I checked out Google street view of all the locations and couldn't see anything to indicate they're still there, even a manhole cover or slight depression in the ground. 

 

nati streets, I doubt that's really feasible considering how little was completed and where the portals are/were.  Depending on the grades, it's possible both portals could still be accessible in some fashion by building a simple highway deck over the top.  The interesting thing about it is that connecting Broadway Commons with the former CL&N near Victory Parkway, then utilizing the former N&W belt line to Bond Hill would effectively cut off the entirety of the worst bottleneck of the Mill Creek Valley. 

 

natininja, I wouldn't be surprised if it could actually still be usable, but I can't find any good information on what the standard practice is today.  The floor might need to be lowered a bit for extra height clearance, but it's not too bad.

It's certainly not the only one either.  The Cincinnati Western Railroad, another mid-1850s project, was also scrapped midway through construction.  They started building a tunnel under Fay Apartments that was never finished, and there's grading for the roadbed in Mt. Airy Forest, Triple Creek Park, and points north in Colerain Township. 

 

Gee, I'm surprised the residents of the Fay Apartments didn't complain!  :-P

The first chapter of my new book discusses the Deer Creek Tunnel.  I have photos from when it was exposed in 1966 and when the track hoe fell in in 2007.  I also got someone from Baker Concrete to write a two paragraph explanation of what happened in 2007, which actually was quite dangerous.  They quite easily could have had someone killed since they started construction of the parking garage with absolutely no idea that the tunnel was directly beneath them.   

 

The real reason I believe why this tunnel was never finished was by the late 1800's equipment could handle a 2% grade and therefore other entrances to Cincinnati such as the circa 1905 "Schmidlapp Route" and circa 1910 "Supplemental Tunnel Route" were able to enter the basin via much shorter tunnels AND avoid the CL&N's hill.  These two hypothetical city entrances were taken over by the city with the passage of the Rapid Transit Loop bonds in 1916 but as we all know this part of the plan was not built.

 

The book has been listed on Amazon.com but it isn't scheduled to be printed and shipped until the week of November 15.  I'll do a new thread on it when it's shipped.  Here is the link:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Cincinnatis-Incomplete-Subway-Complete-History/dp/1596298952/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289255047&sr=8-4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's some work going on around the former north portal now. I wonder if there's a chance they might break into it again.

 

 

 

There's some work going on around the former north portal now. I wonder if there's a chance they might break into it again.

 

 

 

 

I forgot about that...you're right there is definitely a chance.  If they do break through, it will be most visible from the Blair Ave. overpass.