Glenshaw Tunnel - Bridges and Tunnels of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, PA

View north from CSX RR (downstream right)

More detail photos

OFFICIAL NAME:
Glenshaw Tunnel

OTHER DESIGNATION:
Spencer Tunnel

LOCATION:
Shaler

USGS 7.5" Topo Quad - UTM Coordinates:
Glenshaw - Zone 17; 0588 4486

CARRIES:
CSX [former Baltimore & Ohio RR, Pittsburgh & Western RR]

BETWEEN:

UNDER:
former route of Spencer Ln

TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION / DESIGN:
semi-circular horseshoe profile bored through rock
brick portals
brick ring lining

TOTAL LENGTH:
199 ft

OTHER DIMENSIONS:
5 degree 00' curve to right (heading northward)
30 ft wide

YEAR OPENED / ENGINEER:
1872-1876, rebuilt 1903

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Along Pine Creek, two tunnels are found on what was once the mainline for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad between Pittsburgh and Chicago. There are indications of a third tunnel near Glenshaw Glass Co., but that structure has been "daylighted" -- the roof removed and converted to a cut in the hill.

The two tunnels on Pine Creek and the B&O's Whitehall Tunnel in Pleasant Hills share similar design and details. Each has brick portals and brick vault interior with recessed safety bays. The Whitehall Tunnel is more ambitious in length at 1,630 feet. The Pine Creek tunnels merely cut through smaller hills to straighten and shorten the rail line which generally followed the creek.

The tunnel at Spencer Lane in Glenshaw does not include the details of the name and date as are found on the Etna Tunnel to the south. The stone on the portal of the Etna Tunnel notes the date as 1903. The 1876 atlas shows the Etna tunnel under construction -- indicating they were rebuilt, probably enlarged.

The line was begun as part of the Allegheny and Harmony Railroad in 1872. The narrow gauge railroad was incorporated under the name Pittsburg, New Castle & Lake Erie Railroad in 1877. After a sheriff's sale, it became part of the Pittsburgh & Western Railroad Company which consolidated several lines north and west of Pittsburgh, converting the railroad to standard gauge. It was taken over by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1893.

More info - Pittsburgh & Western Railroad Company

FIELD CHECKED:
04-Sept-2001

INFO SOURCES:
field check; "Tunnel Records",January 1, 1954, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad "Form 6"; Ron Stafford

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Introduction -- Nearby Structures

Page created:
Last modified: 21-Apr-2003

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