the railway tunnel by summerfield

the railway tunnel

at yesterday's bus trip, we visited the Brockville (a town just before reaching Ottawa) and its underground railway tunnel. i walked the 530 metres (1,740 feet) tunnel which runs north to south. it was built in the mid 1800's and is a historic railway tunnel, notable for being Canada's first and the oldest in North America. it was used for over a century and was designed to provide a rail link from the timber trade of the Ottawa Valley to the Brockville port facilities on the St. Lawrence River ship route. (no, it was not used for the underground activities relating to slavery.)

this shot was taken almost to the end of the tunnel which is now a sort of tourist attraction and a 'short cut' used by the locals. the portion where the people are in this photo is right above a busy roadway. and the middle of the tunnel is right under the Brockville city hall.

the middle of the tunnel is of solid granite. groundwater seepage continues to be a feature of the tunnel, creating mineral formations on the limestone walls. the tunnel features a light and sound show.

outside of that end of the tunnel is a refurbished caboose or van, that was donated in 1987 to the city by the Canadian Pacific Railway, which today operates as an escape room experience.
Interesting colors from the light show I am assuming. Fabulous textures and a fascinating history.
October 27th, 2025  
It's a very cool colour
October 27th, 2025  
oh wow how cool is this
October 27th, 2025  
Great image; has a “science fiction” vibe
October 27th, 2025  
I love the lighting
October 27th, 2025  
Fabulous colours!
October 27th, 2025  
I love a tunnel.
October 27th, 2025  
I'm impressed it was still open! I've never gotten to see the tunnel, but we tried while in that area a couple of years ago in October (I think around Thanksgiving) and it was closed for the season. Good job catching it, and cool shot!
October 27th, 2025  
We called into Brockville when we were in Canada. The light show in the tunnel was fabulous.
October 27th, 2025  
oh wow!
October 27th, 2025  
Reuse, repurpose, recycle. Faithful to that motto. The purple lighting is unique and it sounds like the tour was fun.
October 27th, 2025  
This is so cool!
October 28th, 2025  
Great photo and interesting story. Well done.
November 5th, 2025  
Pat
Gosh this is good!
November 9th, 2025  
Hey. Question for you. Did you move or did I get last years Christmas card back because of postal strikes or incompetence?
November 26th, 2025  
@pandorasecho - both postal strike and incompetence. 🤣

just so you know i will not be sending Christmas cards by mail this year and the next 4 years perhaps. PO says we need to register our mail (ordinary, etc) on line, get 'approval' from country mail is being sent to, make a copy of the approval, bring to the PO with mail or envelope open to be certified by PO rep that contents are indeed what was approved. i will just be wishing you merry merry on line. how's it going?
November 26th, 2025  
@summerfield criminentlies! What a hassle. Things are going well. I’m going to put my normal Christmas card on my blog and send a lot less actual paper ones as well. You are high on my list of people I’m glad to call a friend though and I always want you to know that.
November 26th, 2025  
This is awesome!
November 29th, 2025  
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