Jerry Kelley Presentation Reveals Details of Hoosac Tunnel Construction
Jerry Kelley describes the construction of the Hoosac Tunnel at B&MRRHS meeting at Plymouth, N.H. depot, May 21, 2016
Plymouth, N.H., May 21, 2016 -- Jerry Kelley, a student of the Hoosac Tunnel, gave an impressive presentation about building the Tunnel. His talk was well-received by crowd of over fifty B&MRRHS members and friends who were on hand for our up-country meeting at the former B&M depot. Jerry's talk was well illustrated with contemporary photographs of the construction area. His talk began with a description of the drilling process and the use and evolution of nitroglycerine. He explained and showed the variety of structures that were required: workers' housing, alignment towers, blacksmith shop, compressor house, and the acid (nitroglycerine) factory. Jerry's talk covered the activities at the East Portal, the Central Shaft, and the West Portal, and contrasted the difficulty of blasting through solid rock at the East Portal with the hazards of loose earth and limestone at the West Portal where a brick factory was built to make lining brick for the west end. Turning to the present day, Jerry gave his thoughts on the difficulties and possible solutions to making the tunnel large enough to handle double stack containers. The 1911-1946 electrification was described in connection with the electric power generation equipment that was needed. Jerry is a former director and currently an alternate director of the B&MRRHS
The meeting was arranged by Program Chairman Jim Nigzus who saw to all the details, including the sales tables. We thank the Plymouth Senior Center for permitting us to use their facility. The presentation was made in the spacious former dining room of the Plymouth station.
