Today in Wheeling History: July 2—Hempfield Railroad's stone viaduct and tunnel at Tunnel Green, engineered by Suspension Bridge designer Charles Ellet Jr., opened for limited excursion service on roughly 16 miles of track (1856).
The Hempfield Railroad, chartered May 15, 1850, was engineered to link Wheeling with Greensburg, Pennsylvania, a distance of 76 miles. Its most dramatic feature in Wheeling was the stone viaduct and tunnel cut through Steenrod's Peninsula at what became known as Tunnel Green, spanning Wheeling Creek. The viaduct was designed by Charles Ellet Jr., the engineer who had already given Wheeling its landmark Suspension Bridge over the Ohio River. Construction of the five-span stone bridge began in the early 1850s; the Wheeling Intelligencer described the masonry work in progress on October 4, 1853, crediting superintendents Otterson and McCarty. By the summer of 1856, enough of the line was complete that limited excursion service, covering roughly sixteen miles, ran to Triadelphia and West Alexander, including special Fourth of July trains advertised for the holiday. Full completion of the Hempfield line, extending to Washington, Pennsylvania and a distance of 32 miles, came in 1857. The Hempfield operated independently until the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad purchased the line on May 1, 1871. B&O trains used the viaduct and its tunnel, rebuilt in 1904 with a second track, until the route was abandoned in 1973. Today the tunnel and viaduct, long rumored to be haunted by graves disturbed during construction, carry the Wheeling Heritage Trail as one of Wheeling's oldest surviving rail structures.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library – B&O Railroad Bridge (Hempfield Viaduct) History (https://tinyurl.com/3aj7xd6t), HistoricBridges.org – Hempfield Viaduct (https://tinyurl.com/bddk6ekv), Industrial History blog – Trail/B&O/Hempfield Railroad 1857 Viaduct and Tunnel Green (https://tinyurl.com/yf3aeamj), Flickr - Ohio County Public Library - Peninsula Tunnel (https://tinyurl.com/5fdxhu5u), Facebook - Archiving Wheeling - Hempfield Railroad Viaduct (https://tinyurl.com/43nv2mfv)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Google Maps
The Hempfield Railroad, chartered May 15, 1850, was engineered to link Wheeling with Greensburg, Pennsylvania, a distance of 76 miles. Its most dramatic feature in Wheeling was the stone viaduct and tunnel cut through Steenrod's Peninsula at what became known as Tunnel Green, spanning Wheeling Creek. The viaduct was designed by Charles Ellet Jr., the engineer who had already given Wheeling its landmark Suspension Bridge over the Ohio River. Construction of the five-span stone bridge began in the early 1850s; the Wheeling Intelligencer described the masonry work in progress on October 4, 1853, crediting superintendents Otterson and McCarty. By the summer of 1856, enough of the line was complete that limited excursion service, covering roughly sixteen miles, ran to Triadelphia and West Alexander, including special Fourth of July trains advertised for the holiday. Full completion of the Hempfield line, extending to Washington, Pennsylvania and a distance of 32 miles, came in 1857. The Hempfield operated independently until the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad purchased the line on May 1, 1871. B&O trains used the viaduct and its tunnel, rebuilt in 1904 with a second track, until the route was abandoned in 1973. Today the tunnel and viaduct, long rumored to be haunted by graves disturbed during construction, carry the Wheeling Heritage Trail as one of Wheeling's oldest surviving rail structures.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library – B&O Railroad Bridge (Hempfield Viaduct) History (https://tinyurl.com/3aj7xd6t), HistoricBridges.org – Hempfield Viaduct (https://tinyurl.com/bddk6ekv), Industrial History blog – Trail/B&O/Hempfield Railroad 1857 Viaduct and Tunnel Green (https://tinyurl.com/yf3aeamj), Flickr - Ohio County Public Library - Peninsula Tunnel (https://tinyurl.com/5fdxhu5u), Facebook - Archiving Wheeling - Hempfield Railroad Viaduct (https://tinyurl.com/43nv2mfv)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Google Maps
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