Puerto Suello Hill Tunnel

Puerto Suello Tunnel is a rail tunnel in San Rafael, California. It was constructed in 1879[2] by the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad and is 1⁄4 mile (0.4 km)[3] long.

Puerto Suello Tunnel
The north portal of the tunnel in December 2019
Overview
LocationSan Rafael, California
Coordinates37°59′21″N 122°31′45″W
Statusin service
StartLincoln Avenue[1] / Los Ranchitos Road
EndHammondale Court
Operation
Opened1879 (1879)
Closed1985
Rebuilt1967
Reopened2017
OwnerSonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit
OperatorSonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit
CharacterCommuter rail tunnel
Technical
Track length1⁄4 mile (0.4 km)
No. of tracks1
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Lowest elevation50 feet (15 m) below surface

The tunnel was partially destroyed in 1961 by a fire, which was set by two boys. The fire killed 23-year-old firefighter Frank Kinsler when his truck fell 50 feet into the chasm.[4] It was rebuilt for freight service in 1967, but was closed and boarded up in 1985 with the discontinuation of Northwestern Pacific Railroad services.[2][3] The state-owned North Coast Railroad Authority and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District took ownership of the tunnel in the 1970s and was thereafter acquired by SMART in 2003.[2]

It was retrofitted by SMART for a cost of $3 million in 2015.[3] The 2017 California floods caused damage to the tunnel, delaying system's opening testing for three weeks.[1]

References
  1. Prado, Mark (April 3, 2017). "Landslide risk in San Rafael halts SMART testing". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  2. Prado, Mark (March 18, 2015). "Puerto Suello Hill Tunnel for commute rail delayed". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  3. Wood, Jim (February 2015). "A Tunnel's Second Act". Marin Magazine. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  4. "Marin History Watch: San Rafael railroad tunnel collapse". Retrieved June 20, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.