Fairview/Edgewater Tunnel

One of my favorite ways to spend spare time is by using aerial imagery to trace old railroad lines as they make their way across the country. New Jersey has hundreds of miles of abandoned right of way, stretching out across the landscape of the state like a network of veins. While following the Edgewater spur of the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway the line seems to disappear into a valley at the Fairview Cemetery. This is where the Fairview Edgwater Tunnel begins.

Construction for the subterranean passage wrapped up in 1894. Most of the span is natural stone, with brick arches at regular intervals. The mouth of the west portal is also bare stone, but is lined with concrete. The east portal has a more decorative concrete face.

The tunnel featured two portals and a single brick vent. The vent can still be seen today, looking very out of place among the houses that surround it.

The tunnel vent as seen from Google Earth.

The mile long corridor was in service for nearly a century, but eventually fell out of use. The tracks along the right of way were removed in the early 1990s, and the line was abandoned. The tunnel itself is still technically used, though not by any rail service. A natural gas line as well as a power line still run through the corridor. The natural decay has begun to take a toll on the utilities. Large chunks of rock have chipped of the walls and ceiling, occasionally landing on the lines.

There has been talk of reviving the abandoned line for light rail service, and while these notions haven't been put into place they also haven't been dismissed. For this to happen there would need to be significant repair work done on the tunnel, as the years of disuse have caused severe degradation and have brought the structural integrity of the tube into question.

I hope somebody steps in and finds a more practical use for the Fairview Tunnel soon. Its only a matter of time before the portals get sealed off and the tunnel demolishes itself.