The Chapline Hill Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel beneath Chapline Hill in Wheeling, West Virginia, constructed along the Wheeling Terminal Railway.
The Chapline Hill Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel beneath Chapline Hill in Wheeling, West Virginia, constructed along the former Wheeling Terminal Railway.
The Wheeling Terminal Railway originated in the late nineteenth century as part of an effort to secure a direct rail connection between Martins Ferry, Ohio, and Wheeling, West Virginia. Incorporated as the Wheeling Bridge & Terminal Railway in 1889 after several earlier consolidations, the line extended from the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad at Martins Ferry across a 2,097-foot double-track bridge over the Ohio River, which opened on September 11, 1891. 1 3 5 From there, the railroad passed through two tunnels beneath Mount Wood—537 feet and 1,203 feet in length—crossed Wheeling Creek on a 320-foot deck truss bridge, and connected with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at 27th Street. The company was reorganized as the Wheeling Terminal Railway in 1900 and was operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad beginning in 1921. 3
The last passenger train utilized the tunnel in 1938. Freight service continued for several decades, but the railroad was fully abandoned in 1982. 1 The tunnel remains in minimal use by an adjoining business as an access roadway.
Sources
- Titchenal, Stephen. Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad History. N.p.: n.p., 2014. Print.
- “Wheeling Terminal Railway Bridge.” Ohio County Public Library. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
- “THE WHEELING, W.VA. BRIDGE AND TERMINAL SYSTEM.” Once A Week 6.16 (1891): 13. Print.
- Plaque.
- “The Wheeling Terminal Railway Company.” The Pennsylvania Railroad Company: The Corporate, Financial and Construction History of Lines Owned, Operated and Controlled To December 31, 1945, Volume III Lines West of Pittsburgh 3 (1946): 648-63. Print.
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