This train track claimed the lives of hundreds of people during its 24 years of construction.
This tunnel claimed the lives of hundreds(Image: Getty)
Burrowing beneath a towering mountain range in Massachusetts is a railway tunnel with a long and blood soaked history. The Hoosac Tunnel travels between North Adams in the west to the town of Florida, Massachusetts in the east. It was constructed in 1851 and finally finished in 1975.
However, during its 24 years of construction, this railway tunnel claimed the lives of around 200 men, giving it the terrifying nickname of ‘the Bloody Pit’. Men were killed by explosions, falling rocks and accidents with ladders and scaffolding, leading to a strike in 1865 where workers burned buildings in protest of the horrific working conditions.
Over the year following the strike, a further 14 men were killed or injured at work in the tunnel.
On October 17, 1867, the tunnel saw the deadliest accident of its 24 years in construction.
Workers were digging a 1,028 foot long vertical exhaust shaft when a candle ignited the fumes that had leaked from a lamp.
An explosion ripped through the shaft, setting the hoist alight. It collapsed into the shaft, trapping 13 men working at the base of the shaft inside the darkness.
The pumps were destroyed, and the shaft began to fill with water.
In a desperate attempt to save the men trapped below, a worker was lowered into the shaft the following day but was overcome by fumes and reported no survivors once he reached the surface again.
Horrifyingly, when workers reached the bottom of the shaft months later they found that at least some of the men had survived long enough to build a raft to escape the rising flood waters before they suffocated.
The men died due to a lack of oxygen as fires burned through the air.
Despite the tragedies that befall construction, the tunnel was finally completed and used by both passenger and freight trains.
Today, the tunnel still stands but is only used for freight trains.