Bee Rock Tunnel

36°53′47.9″N 82°47′19.9″W / 36.896639°N 82.788861°W / 36.896639; -82.788861 Bee Rock Tunnel is a former railroad tunnel that is located in Appalachia, Virginia. It was built in 1891 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.^[1] The tunnel is part of the Powell River Trail which is now a walking and biking trail located in Appalachia, VA.^[2]

Though known locally as the "world's shortest railroad tunnel", at 47 feet 7 inches (14.50 m) long, it is 1 foot 7 inches (0.48 m) longer than the Westmoreland Tunnel, in Westmoreland, Tennessee.^[3] Both tunnels, however, are longer than the Backbone Rock Tunnel near Shady Valley, Tennessee, which at around 20 feet (6.1 m) long, is the "world's shortest railroad tunnel."^[4][5][6]

References

1. Boardman, Fon Wyman Jr. (1960). Tunnels. New York: Henry Z. Walck, Inc. p. 74.
2. Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Foundation, Abingdon, VA. "Bee Tunnel-Roaring Branch Trail" 2013-08-03 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2013-05-05.
3. Colbert, Judy. Virginia Off the Beaten Path. Globe Pequot, 2011. p. 205.
4. United States Forest Service. "Backbone Rock Recreation Area". U.S. Department of Agriculture. Web. Accessed 12/2/2012.
5. Warmuth, Donna Akers. Washington County Revisted. Arcadia Publishing, May 7, 2008. pg. 57
6. Tennis, Joe (2014). Virginia Rail Trails: Crossing the Commonwealth. The History Press. p. 235. ISBN 9781626196537.

• James, Emma W. (1993). As We Were: Memories of Appalachia and Her Surrounding Coal Camps. Professional Press.

External links

• 2011 photo of Bee Rock Tunnel - the tunneldiaries.com
• Photo of a train approaching Bee Rock Tunnel - Virginia Tourism Corp.
• Old photo of Bee Rock Tunnel - Historical Society of Southwest Virginia (Rootsweb)