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Title: Summit Tunnel 150 years Celebration, 1991 - DAH00206
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Title
Summit Tunnel 150 years Celebration, 1991 - DAH00206
Description
Summit Tunnel is one of the world's oldest railway tunnels. It was constructed between 1838 and 1841 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company to provide a direct line between Leeds and Manchester. When built, Summit Tunnel was the longest railway tunnel in the world.
The tunnel, between Littleborough and Walsden near Todmorden, was bored beneath the Pennines, a natural obstruction to most forms of traffic. The tunnel is just over 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long and carries two standard-gauge tracks in a single horseshoe-shaped tube, approximately 24 feet (7.2 m) wide and 22 feet (6.6 m) high. Summit Tunnel was designed by Thomas Longridge Gooch, assisted by Barnard Dickinson. Progress on its construction was slower than anticipated, largely because excavation was more difficult than anticipated. On 1 March 1841, Summit Tunnel was opened by Sir John Frederick Sigismund Smith; it had cost of £251,000 and 41 workers had died.
On 20 December 1984, the Summit Tunnel fire occurred. No lives were lost. The fire generated sufficient heat to vitrify sections of its outer brickwork. Restoration involved replacing 550 yards (500 m) of track and sleepers before it re-opened to traffic on 19 August 1985.
The tunnel, between Littleborough and Walsden near Todmorden, was bored beneath the Pennines, a natural obstruction to most forms of traffic. The tunnel is just over 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long and carries two standard-gauge tracks in a single horseshoe-shaped tube, approximately 24 feet (7.2 m) wide and 22 feet (6.6 m) high. Summit Tunnel was designed by Thomas Longridge Gooch, assisted by Barnard Dickinson. Progress on its construction was slower than anticipated, largely because excavation was more difficult than anticipated. On 1 March 1841, Summit Tunnel was opened by Sir John Frederick Sigismund Smith; it had cost of £251,000 and 41 workers had died.
On 20 December 1984, the Summit Tunnel fire occurred. No lives were lost. The fire generated sufficient heat to vitrify sections of its outer brickwork. Restoration involved replacing 550 yards (500 m) of track and sleepers before it re-opened to traffic on 19 August 1985.
Creator
Halifax Courier
Source
Dianne Harwood
Rights
PHDA - Dianne Harwood Collection
Relation
Pennine Horizons Digital Archive
Identifier
DAH00206.tif
Collection
Citation
Halifax Courier, “Summit Tunnel 150 years Celebration, 1991 - DAH00206,” Pennine Horizons Digital Archive, accessed April 25, 2024, https://penninehorizons.org/items/show/31128.
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