Windsor – Detroit Rail Tunnel – 1931

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• Where is/was this?

• The road in the distance is Wyandotte street west, between Cameron Avenue (west) and Wellington Street (east). It's the old Michigan Central Railroad tunnel used by CP.

• I didn't even know this existed until I was in my teens. A lot a long time residents still don't.

• For years, the area around the tunnel was overgrown and it was hard to spot except from College street bridge looking north. Recent border concerns have led to "clear-cut" of all vegetation and it is now very visible from Wyandotte Street - even at night, as there is lighting that is probably bright enough to read a book under 24/7 (again, part of current security setup arising from terrorist threat...) The optimal viewing angle is still from the south (as in this postcard) rather than the north - although College street is much farther from the actual portal than Wyandotte... Also, the road overpass visible in the postcard was removed a few years back and Wyandotte is now level - much safer, but you don't get as good a view of the tunnel portal area! The road overpass was for a spur that ran to the former Windsor Star paper warehouse on Riverside Drive. And before the tunnel was built, this ditch is where the mainline ran to 4 railcar ferry slips on the riverfront in the area of Cameron to Campbell - also the original "Michigan Central Railroad" station site and now all part of the riverfront park. When you are going along Riverside Drive, just east of Cameron to the south you can see the cutting, and a building that houses ventilation fans for the rail tunnel. For a lot more on this whole setup, see http://www.canadasouthern.com

  The rail tunnel was the first non-ferry crossing of the Detroit River. When it opened, there were massive public celebrations. You could get on a train at the NYC station in Windsor, and ride to Chicago, Boston, New York City, etc., without getting out of your seat.

  Jim Yaworsky

• It is indeed unfortunate that many local long time residents are unaware of the rich history of this area. Fortunately we have this site which is followed by several personalities (eg. Bernie Drouillard and others) who are well versed on topics presented here. A big thank you to Andrew for making this possible and I urge all readers to promote this site to the uninformed and to those who may have expert knowledge from which we may all benefit.

• Is it still two tracks?
  Why can I only picture one in my mind right now?

• It is still two tracks.
  When I was a teen, we used to go on adventures in there.
  Years later I worked for CN and we put the fiber optic cable the banks use through it.
  There are passageways every so often so you can move from one tunnel to the other ( you DO NOT want to be in there when a train goes through )!
  Rats and lots of soot.
  One time we were doing some work in there and I guess we didn't have permission from the U.S. side and cops were waiting for us when we got to the other side.
  Sensors galore!
  I hear back in the day it was an easy way to sneak from country to country.

• Well said JBM. Andrew deserves so much credit. Did I read that he isn't even a native born son?

• Is there any history on how it was built, did they dig a trench in the river bed and drop in tube sections like the automotive tunnel?

• I would answer "Freeman's" question, but I posted something to this page yesterday which for some reason was not approved. If there was a reason, I'd like to hear it. Otherwise, I guess I will never bother posting to this forum again.

  Sincerely

  Jim Yaworsky