Nelson Bennett Tunnel - South Portal (Tacoma, Washington)

Comments

• 
  Brandon (guest)

  Do not enter this tunnel ever, regardless of a train coming or not.

  12 years ago | reply | hide comment
• 
  Down Inthe Holden

  I walked through it- twice, nearly thrice! Back in the day when there were two sets of tracks- today only one. Since, I have had dreams, turned bad, like night mares, near the entrance, on the Ruston side, where we used to play, and hide- Could have hopped a train there, when stopped, but always afraid, of where I may be able to get off, and only about 13-17 or so then. A seemingly great area to play- Then we went to school with a kid, who later became known as, Amtrack Jack. May he R-I-P, he played down there too. I remember one day- a friend was over, and we were eager to get out of the house. So I showed him how we would climb up and down the vines, beneath the Ruston Bridge. And then maybe throw rocks up one side of the tunnel wall, and watch it go all the way around. We were looking for mice or whatever we were doing. Maybe we were 15 years old. We knew we had no business down there- Not much later- BN(SF) Posted NO TRESPASSING signs all over- for our own safety sure. So Mike and I and one or two others, were in, not even a 16th of a mile- Now on the Ruston side, you could go in a bit further, about a 1/16th? of a mile or well whatever it was, before the curve, and blackness. We were in, only maybe 30 feet or so. And we heard the rush of a locomotive coming our way- as I mentioned, there were two sets of tracks. Now we all ran out, and as I saw my friend running out, on the same track as the approaching train, we knew something was wrong- and thank the goodness he- well, as he ran, on the same track, towards the approaching train. it was as if, all he knew was , "Get out of the tunnel!" He was unable to move to his right- to the open line- and he was, it seems, within - oh it was close! 10 to maybe 15 feet of that engine, gaining speed. Yeah- That was near the end of days of , playing on the tracks, below the Ruston Bridge- at the Nelson Bennett train tunnel, Ruston entrance. The dreams include, running through the smaller tunnel as we often did, seemed safer than the car tunnel, and the Smelter made one walk over a mile to get around. So we just ran through the short train tunnel. The dreams turned nightmarish, were just like, being down in the ravine, between the two tunnels and rail road workers coming after trespassers there, me in the dream. Or other times flying at one side or the other- even one dream/nightmare of flying in the buff, and a train came, and I hovered, on the Narrows Passage side in the trees. Ah yes please, indeed- good advice to, even though but one set of tracks goes through now- Stay out of there. 44 and glad we- well one last story- true. It was late, about 10 p.m. late for 15 year old. And a friend- we were bound and determined to walk through it. Never really knowing the schedule- Sometimes they ran like every 15 minutes. And so My friend Dave and I were just about ready to go in the Ruston side, when a group of about five, two girls and three guys came along- They too were going to walk through. Well we all did. Thinking of, what we do if a train came, and it would have been messy sure. Fortunately, we had just reached the Salmon beach side, when we were just up the trail above the tunnel, a Burlington Northern came by- we were barley out, three minutes- There would have sure been death that night- for total panic would have set in most if not all of us. I even wrote a poem about it- but maybe another time. -D

  8 years ago | reply | hide comment
• 
  Aaron Loomis

  I enjoyed your story. I too had quite an experience with this tunnel; on several occasions. My friends and I were more concerned with getting caught than we were for our safety though. We paid no mind to whether or not a train would come through while we were inside, in fact we welcomed it. This was back in 1992, and I was 15. I went to Woodrow Wilson High School, and it was my sophomore year there. My friends lived mostly in Ruston, so they were familiar with the tunnel and how to access it. We would climb down from the Winnifred St. bridge on the Ruston end of the tunnel, same as you. Someone had a boombox along on a few of the occasions, and I remember listening to Nirvana’s newly released Nevermind album over and over as we hiked through the tunnel. The southern set of tracks were no longer there, so there was plenty of room to hug the south wall when trains passed through. There was a pipe or conduit line attached to the wall that we would hang on to with white knuckles as the trains produced quite a rush of air as they passed by. We would always carry a flashlight – not to see where we were going, but so we could shine the train cars as they flew past. This was especially interesting when the Amtrak Coast Starlight came through, as the passengers on the train were clearly visible – and they clearly saw US as well! This last bit of information was probably what led to us running for our freedom when the very next train to pass through stopped mid-tunnel and dispatched angry workers to chase us. That was the scariest part: feeling like we would be tackled and turned over to the police. We were able to scramble back up the steep wall by the bridge and hide before they got to us though. Whew. The experience inside the tunnel was definitely creepy. First, because of the curve the tunnel has and the way it affects light as you progress inward. The tunnel opening becomes slimmer and slimmer the further you get from it, until the last splinter of light disappears and you find yourself in complete darkness. Then when a train approaches, the first notification you get is the faint hum of the electric traction motors. Somehow this is more eerie than hearing the rumble of the diesel engines, which you don’t hear until the train is actually passing you. Shortly after the electric hum can be heard, you can begin to see the reflection of the locomotive’s headlight off of the tunnel wall. The light becomes brighter and brighter until you can see the full beam of the light – which is blinding. I would love to go back there and hike through again, although I imagine the access is probably more secure and the penalty for trespassing more severe. Great memories though.

  8 years ago | reply | hide comment
• 
  1990 (guest)

  been in that tunnel. me and a friend went in with a flashlight and timed how far we would go in. around 20 min in the flashlight went out so we were headed back. we heard the train coming. we got up against the wall and as the train came closer we could see a light and there was a long wire of lights going down the wall that would come on and go off but wouldn't stay on. I could see those lights and water under us. I noticed when it was to late that we were on the wrong side. I told my friend to get up against the wall and hold on. as the train went by really fast it looked like it was about a foot or so in front of my face. i closed my eyes, and when i did look i saw flashes of light coming off the side of the train from the lights above us. I just wanted it to hurry and go by and didn't want to get sucked under it. The train was loud and I still could hear my friend screaming, I yelled shut up. finally the train had passed and it was dark again. so we headed out. the whole time after the train had passed there was a strong wind that was sucked into the tunnel.

  8 years ago | reply | hide comment