A look at the opening of the Windsor end of the Detroit River Rail Tunnel. Construction started on the tunnel in 1906, and it opened for service in 1910. It once carried both Passengers and freight traffic, but today carries only freight.
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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
Chapter VIII in “Canada Southern Country” by Robert D. Tennant Jr. ISBN 1-55046-007-2, Boston Mills Press 1991 has an excellent description, details and photographs of the construction of the tunnel. Well worth reading!
To get information on the tunnel go to the Canada Southern Railroad site, lots of information about the New York Central Railroad and Windsor.
Does anyone remember the band Windsor Tunnel? There album cover 1970-ish had a photo of them at the entrance to the tunnel. Here’s a Link….
http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/windsor_tunnel
One thing missing from this picture it the ETR rail bridge crossing, just about 50 yards to the south of the entrance, don’t know what year that was built.
I may stand corrected on my previous point, this picture may have been taken from the rail overpass.
I remember playing on the banks of the tunnel probably somewhere around late 80’s through early 90’s,the banks used to be covered by trees and was a cool place to play,i also remember playing on and around the black bridge also covered with trees,i heard stories friends had told of being in the tunnel when trains were in there and having to hold on as the trains would suck u in…