Right out of the line of sight, tucked into the side of the road bordering a fairly large dam in Clinton Massachusetts, sits an abandoned beauty of a train tunnel. When you start searching out places like this, as with any "slightly off" hobbies like: bird watching, rock collecting and the entire field of entomology, people that share your interest sometimes become excited (or really, really, overly excited) and like to tell you, in rapid succession, about their own happenings. That was the case with
this site. I was speaking to someone this winter and they, with a sparkle in their eye, told me about a tunnel that was still open, but not commonly known, and was completely abandoned by the state. I heard... and let it fall into the files I keep in the back of my head about these things. (These files are the reason that other things like taking out the trash every week and returning library books, don't seem to find a place in my memory.) So I, flanked by a small but pretty awesome assortment of friends, their children and my own children, set out to find it. (Props to Ruben, Ben and Keri... I think we may be setting out on more of these "adventures" in the future.)
Finding the place was actually really easy. There is the remains of a trestle still visible on the side of the road
The trestle
opposite the dam. The tunnel lies directly in back of that. Also, you could just reference the map at the upper corner of this website to find out the exact location. The dam on the opposite side is also worth exploring. It is actually quite beautiful and has trails that run both sides of the valley. At one point people were allowed to walk across the top. I don't think that that is still a possibility, but the trails are really worth the trip. Just one more thought before we get back to the tunnel, there is also a museum dedicated to Russian Icons that is actually pretty extensive and worth the time it takes to go through it.
Right... back to tunnels. This tunnel, as you can see by the picture at the top, was really big. The
construction was kind of breath taking. It went way above utilitarian in my opinion. Massive stone blocks, nicely splayed out at the main entrance, led into a smooth walled, enormously tall tunnel. I estimate the tunnel to be maybe a quarter of a mile long, but it really does feel longer when you are walking through. A little over half way through the walls change from manicured cement, to roughly chiseled out stones. I think the stones are more impressive than the cement. They have fallen in places, but I think it all remains reasonably sound.
The temperature drops a good twenty degrees on the inside. When Ben and I stood in front of the
tunnel waiting for the others to arrive, the breeze carried through the tunnel was like air conditioning. The floor of the tunnel is wet in places, especially near the end where it gets pretty swampy. If you are considering going past the far end of the tunnel, I strongly recommend boots. Cracks in the roof have begun to develop stalactites. There is some graffiti, as can be expected, but I was surprised by the overall lack of trash. There was some, and evidence of party fires, but it was kind of minimal for an open tunnel hidden from view. Parts of the wall had broken off in places revealing the wooden supports structure beneath.
There is internet talk about this place being haunted by ghost trains. Oh if there were only ghost trains, my life would be so much cooler. In truth the creepiness factor is sadly missing here. It is awesome, but it isn't creepy despite a couple of traditional ghost-hunteresque happenings: Keri's newly bought flashlight did inexplicably run out of batteries half-way through. Ben and I did have one moment where we stopped and looked at each other as what sounded like a large truck, or by a small stretch of the imagination, a train, sounded like it was roaring its way through the tunnel. The sound was deep, the kind that you can feel in your chest. There is nothing but woods on top of the tunnel, so the best that we could figure it, the sound of trucks going by on the nearby road
might sometime get amplified in the tunnel. The only scary part of the tunnel really was the poison ivy that lines the left had trail leading to the tunnel. My son summed up the tunnel by calling it similar to something out of Indiana Jones. I agree, there are parts of it, surrounded by woods that have completely retaken it that did seem like an ancient ruin. The far end for example does seem have that grand, abandoned feel. All in all, this is a pretty cool place and totally worth the trip. I heard talk about the Rail Trail claiming it. That would be very, very cool.
As with all good tunnels, trips also have to have an end. We ended ours by going to another secret worth sharing, the nearby Rota Springs Farm for ice cream. I highly recommend the Lemon Sorbet... little chunks of lemon rind right in the sorbet... yes!
I like your blog and plan to visit some of the sites you mention. I might also suggest the pre-Revolutionary Elliot Hill Burial Ground in Leicester - 'To get to the cemetery, Take Route 56 north from Leicester Center. You will travel this road about 2 to 3 miles before you will come to the intersection near the reservoirs. At the intersection, you will take a left onto Marshall St. Go up the hill and at the top of the hill, you need to look at the houses on the left hand side. (FYI, at the top of the hill, you will pass on the old Leicester airport and nightclub Highlights. It’s very overgrown and if you are not looking for it, you will miss it) The path to the cemetery is located between 370 and 374 Marshall St. (I think that the cemetery would have been 372 because there is not a house marked as 372). This is where you need to pay attention. Right next to 374 Marshall Street is the path to the cemetery, but it almost looks like you are walking through the right side of 374’s lawn. This is public property so it is ok to walk through. To give a landmark, the entrance is directly across the street from a somewhat large beige mailbox that also looks like a little house. You can park next to this mailbox. The entrance to that path is also marked with a large flat stone that is half buried in the ground.' Also, check this guy's site out: http://www.boudillion.com/journal/journal.html
Thanks for the recommendation. I will keep it on the list for this spring/summer. Also thanks for the Boudillion blog. I have been all over that thing for years now!
I am a fellow adventurer from MA with a love for old places - this looks like a true gem. I wanted to share - in the spirit of "safety first" - two things I've learned. The first is that old places are known for their beauty and also their high levels of asbestos. We urban explorers love to bring a few decent filter masks to be safe, even though this particular tunnel is probably OK. Second, it's good to be aware that you may encounter someone homeless who may be less than enthusiastic to see you. The down side here is mostly just the surprise the factor, so it can be good to know that this does occasionally happen. Just be friendly, explain that you are "only taking pictures" and be on your way.
Alright - I really hope I haven't dissuaded you from future adventures - just wanted to share some info that has served me well on my own! Abandoned places are pretty darn cool - congrats on a wicked find!
Did you ever look up to see where the destination / route of the trains were? What year it was in use and what year it was stopped ? It would be cool to know these things and why it was shut down. Maybe there's some creepy reason it was closed that could explain any paranormal activity
It would be a lot of fun to actually find what route this was and wear the trains were heading. I don't think that there was any paranormal activity there though. Thanks for the comment Brittany.
The Train came into Clinton from Berlin or West Boyleston (Both) bringing supply's to the workers building the Dam There was also a Black Bridge that went right over the Nashua River. My uncles used to jump off of it into the water below. Lots of history there. The Clinton Historical Society has so many amazing pictures from this time. The Clinton Dam and Wachusett Reservoir is so beautiful. Truly the Best part of living in the area!
Okay, now more than forty years later, I can finally reveal that I was the source of the old Clinton resevoir railroad tunnel ghost train folklore! This is a true story! I was born and raised in Clinton, Massachusetts, and I lived on Chestnut Street, less than a mile from this old railroad tunnel near the Clinton Dam. My friends and I used to hang out in the tunnel, and for years we brought our friends and girlfriends into the tunnel, either to "make out" with the girls or to party and drink with the guys. In fact, when I was a kid, the train trestle was still there and spanned high above the river that was below the Clinton Dam. Many of us used to swim in that river and the more adventurous of us used to climb the trellis and jump off of the lower cross sections into the river. Some of the braver kids jumped from higher up, and at least one of my childhood acquaintances was actually killed jumping off the train trellis before a local scrap metal dealer/welder won the bid to remove the trestle. Rumor had it that he agreed to remove it for free if he would be allowed to keep and sell all of the scrap steel from the trestle. We actually went down to watch him dismantle the trestle which took several weeks or months. These guys climbed the trestle like monkeys with climbing gear and torches, and strategically cut away sections allowing them to fall into the river, and then after it was all brought down, they cut it up into smaller pieces and hauled it away. You can see the crude video taken in 1975 when the trestle was cut down here: Train Trestle Demolition Clinton Massachusetts near Wachusett Dam 1975 - YouTube It was an incredible undertaking, and one which could not be duplicated today with all of the job site safety regulations, and pollution control regulations. Anyways, back to the tunnel haunting. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, I was about 13 to 16 years old, and I had an old 1947 Willys CJ2A military Jeep. The front differential was all worn out, and if the Jeep was driven in four wheel drive, that front differential would howl like an old freight train. If I raised the speed above about 10 miles per hour, the differential howl would change to a screech that sounded just like a train whistle. It happened at a precise speed and by modulating the throttle, I could make that “train whistle” come on and off by simple increasing and decreasing the speed of the Jeep. So, once we discovered the old train tunnel, we got this great idea to haunt it and to scare the other kids away to keep it as our own private clubhouse. We would drive that old Jeep deep into the tunnel and out the other side. We would then turn it around and drive back in just far enough that we could hide undetected at dusk or early evening, and we would just sit and wait for some unsuspecting kids to venture into the tunnel, just like we had done when we first discovered it. We also disconnected the wires to one of the headlights so that only one light would illuminate when I turned on the headlights.
When we saw the kids enter the tunnel laughing and yelling, we would stay very quiet in order to allow them to walk deep enough into the tunnel to make their escape more difficult. When we felt that they were deep enough in the tunnel, I would start the Jeep engine and just allow it to idle in the darkness. The kids would all start yelling to each other to “Be quiet” and to “Listen” as they debated whether the soft rumble was coming from inside the tunnel or not. The tunnel allowed for some weird echo effects so sounds could be really deceiving as you experienced when you were in there. As the kids stood still listening, I would start driving towards them, and as we acquired more speed, the differential would start to howl like freight train. The kids would start screaming as they turned around and ran for the entrance that they had come in from. Just as they started running, I would turn on that single headlight and raise the speed enough to sound that screeching train whistle. I would then accelerate and decelerate just enough to turn the whistle on and off like we were blowing the train whistle at them, which created the effect that this "single lighted train engine was barrelling towards them". Anyone who had been in the tunnel knew that the trains had not run in that tunnel for years, and that the tracks were torn up in places, but they were absolutely convinced that a freight train was bearing down on them as we raced towards the kids running away from us. Once they safely cleared the tunnel entrance, we would shut the whole thing down and slowly back up to reset for the next “haunting”. These kids almost had a heart attack, as we chased them out of the tunnel again and again, and most were too scared to venture back in to investigate. We did get caught a few times by the braver kids who came back in to find out what really was chasing them, but most of those kids simply joined us in the hauntings. This was so much fun that we continued to do this off and on for years, until we finally got chased out by the police. My Dad was a Judge at the local courthouse so I never got in too much trouble, but we sure scared a whole generation on kids on these tunnel hauntings, and we acquired a great collection of flashlights from the kids who dropped them in their panic as they fled that ghost train out of that haunted train tunnel. Email me at chasgould@mac.com if you need more details about these ghost train hauntings Charles
As a kid in the late 70's my dad took us here. He too had played in the tunnel and jumped off the trestle. By my time the trestle was gone and although you were allowed to swim downstream, no one was supposed to be swimming on the blocks. Of course my dad had us all swimming there! another neat but not so legal place to visit is the quarry that is further up rt. 12. Drive rt. 12 toward Boylston/Worcester. When you come to the junction of Rt. 70 and 12 park your car off of Rt. 70. If you park on 12, you'll get towed. The actual entrance is off of Rt. 12 but clearly marked no trespassing so we would always come in from the 70 side and just hike straight to the path. By now it must be pretty over grown. About a 15 minute walk down that path and you come to a very small old stone quarry. we used to swim there all the time. Climbing to the top outcrop and looking down is exciting and adventurous. AND if you go in the winter there is the most beautiful crystal blue ice fall that builds up from all the dripping spring water.
My father convinced a cousin that he had to come every winter and leave a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the grinch otherwise he would be angry and steal all your Christmas gifts. We still talk about it at family gatherings.
I've been trying to find the police records for it, because I don't currently know the victims name... But I'm aware there was a murder case in the late 80s (I think the late 80s), where a female body was found in the tunnel. My father has a friend who's girlfriend, or maybe ex-girlfriend at the time, was found in or at the tunnel. The dad recalls the case being deemed a murder, and that it was never solved.
I like your blog and plan to visit some of the sites you mention. I might also suggest the pre-Revolutionary Elliot Hill Burial Ground in Leicester -
ReplyDelete'To get to the cemetery, Take Route 56 north from Leicester Center. You will travel this road about 2 to 3 miles before you will come to the intersection near the reservoirs. At the intersection, you will take a left onto Marshall St. Go up the hill and at the top of the hill, you need to look at the houses on the left hand side. (FYI, at the top of the hill, you will pass on the old Leicester airport and nightclub Highlights. It’s very overgrown and if you are not looking for it, you will miss it)
The path to the cemetery is located between 370 and 374 Marshall St. (I think that the cemetery would have been 372 because there is not a house marked as 372). This is where you need to pay attention. Right next to 374 Marshall Street is the path to the cemetery, but it almost looks like you are walking through the right side of 374’s lawn. This is public property so it is ok to walk through. To give a landmark, the entrance is directly across the street from a somewhat large beige mailbox that also looks like a little house. You can park next to this mailbox. The entrance to that path is also marked with a large flat stone that is half buried in the ground.' Also, check this guy's site out: http://www.boudillion.com/journal/journal.html
Thanks for the recommendation. I will keep it on the list for this spring/summer. Also thanks for the Boudillion blog. I have been all over that thing for years now!
DeleteSpidergates?
DeleteWow! What a find!
ReplyDeleteI am a fellow adventurer from MA with a love for old places - this looks like a true gem. I wanted to share - in the spirit of "safety first" - two things I've learned. The first is that old places are known for their beauty and also their high levels of asbestos. We urban explorers love to bring a few decent filter masks to be safe, even though this particular tunnel is probably OK. Second, it's good to be aware that you may encounter someone homeless who may be less than enthusiastic to see you. The down side here is mostly just the surprise the factor, so it can be good to know that this does occasionally happen. Just be friendly, explain that you are "only taking pictures" and be on your way.
Alright - I really hope I haven't dissuaded you from future adventures - just wanted to share some info that has served me well on my own! Abandoned places are pretty darn cool - congrats on a wicked find!
Thanks for the advice: both duly noted, especially when carting my kinds with me.
DeleteDid you ever look up to see where the destination / route of the trains were? What year it was in use and what year it was stopped ? It would be cool to know these things and why it was shut down. Maybe there's some creepy reason it was closed that could explain any paranormal activity
ReplyDeleteIt would be a lot of fun to actually find what route this was and wear the trains were heading. I don't think that there was any paranormal activity there though.
DeleteThanks for the comment Brittany.
The Train came into Clinton from Berlin or West Boyleston (Both) bringing supply's to the workers building the Dam There was also a Black Bridge that went right over the Nashua River. My uncles used to jump off of it into the water below. Lots of history there. The Clinton Historical Society has so many amazing pictures from this time. The Clinton Dam and Wachusett Reservoir is so beautiful. Truly the Best part of living in the area!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOkay, now more than forty years later, I can finally reveal that I was the source of the old Clinton resevoir railroad tunnel ghost train folklore!
ReplyDeleteThis is a true story!
I was born and raised in Clinton, Massachusetts, and I lived on Chestnut Street, less than a mile from this old railroad tunnel near the Clinton Dam. My friends and I used to hang out in the tunnel, and for years we brought our friends and girlfriends into the tunnel, either to "make out" with the girls or to party and drink with the guys.
In fact, when I was a kid, the train trestle was still there and spanned high above the river that was below the Clinton Dam. Many of us used to swim in that river and the more adventurous of us used to climb the trellis and jump off of the lower cross sections into the river. Some of the braver kids jumped from higher up, and at least one of my childhood acquaintances was actually killed jumping off the train trellis before a local scrap metal dealer/welder won the bid to remove the trestle. Rumor had it that he agreed to remove it for free if he would be allowed to keep and sell all of the scrap steel from the trestle. We actually went down to watch him dismantle the trestle which took several weeks or months. These guys climbed the trestle like monkeys with climbing gear and torches, and strategically cut away sections allowing them to fall into the river, and then after it was all brought down, they cut it up into smaller pieces and hauled it away.
You can see the crude video taken in 1975 when the trestle was cut down here: Train Trestle Demolition Clinton Massachusetts near Wachusett Dam 1975 - YouTube
It was an incredible undertaking, and one which could not be duplicated today with all of the job site safety regulations, and pollution control regulations.
Anyways, back to the tunnel haunting. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, I was about 13 to 16 years old, and I had an old 1947 Willys CJ2A military Jeep. The front differential was all worn out, and if the Jeep was driven in four wheel drive, that front differential would howl like an old freight train. If I raised the speed above about 10 miles per hour, the differential howl would change to a screech that sounded just like a train whistle. It happened at a precise speed and by modulating the throttle, I could make that “train whistle” come on and off by simple increasing and decreasing the speed of the Jeep.
So, once we discovered the old train tunnel, we got this great idea to haunt it and to scare the other kids away to keep it as our own private clubhouse. We would drive that old Jeep deep into the tunnel and out the other side. We would then turn it around and drive back in just far enough that we could hide undetected at dusk or early evening, and we would just sit and wait for some unsuspecting kids to venture into the tunnel, just like we had done when we first discovered it. We also disconnected the wires to one of the headlights so that only one light would illuminate when I turned on the headlights.
When we saw the kids enter the tunnel laughing and yelling, we would stay very quiet in order to allow them to walk deep enough into the tunnel to make their escape more difficult. When we felt that they were deep enough in the tunnel, I would start the Jeep engine and just allow it to idle in the darkness. The kids would all start yelling to each other to “Be quiet” and to “Listen” as they debated whether the soft rumble was coming from inside the tunnel or not. The tunnel allowed for some weird echo effects so sounds could be really deceiving as you experienced when you were in there.
DeleteAs the kids stood still listening, I would start driving towards them, and as we acquired more speed, the differential would start to howl like freight train. The kids would start screaming as they turned around and ran for the entrance that they had come in from. Just as they started running, I would turn on that single headlight and raise the speed enough to sound that screeching train whistle. I would then accelerate and decelerate just enough to turn the whistle on and off like we were blowing the train whistle at them, which created the effect that this "single lighted train engine was barrelling towards them".
Anyone who had been in the tunnel knew that the trains had not run in that tunnel for years, and that the tracks were torn up in places, but they were absolutely convinced that a freight train was bearing down on them as we raced towards the kids running away from us. Once they safely cleared the tunnel entrance, we would shut the whole thing down and slowly back up to reset for the next “haunting”.
These kids almost had a heart attack, as we chased them out of the tunnel again and again, and most were too scared to venture back in to investigate. We did get caught a few times by the braver kids who came back in to find out what really was chasing them, but most of those kids simply joined us in the hauntings.
This was so much fun that we continued to do this off and on for years, until we finally got chased out by the police. My Dad was a Judge at the local courthouse so I never got in too much trouble, but we sure scared a whole generation on kids on these tunnel hauntings, and we acquired a great collection of flashlights from the kids who dropped them in their panic as they fled that ghost train out of that haunted train tunnel.
Email me at chasgould@mac.com if you need more details about these ghost train hauntings
Charles
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid in the late 70's my dad took us here. He too had played in the tunnel and jumped off the trestle. By my time the trestle was gone and although you were allowed to swim downstream, no one was supposed to be swimming on the blocks. Of course my dad had us all swimming there! another neat but not so legal place to visit is the quarry that is further up rt. 12. Drive rt. 12 toward Boylston/Worcester. When you come to the junction of Rt. 70 and 12 park your car off of Rt. 70. If you park on 12, you'll get towed. The actual entrance is off of Rt. 12 but clearly marked no trespassing so we would always come in from the 70 side and just hike straight to the path. By now it must be pretty over grown. About a 15 minute walk down that path and you come to a very small old stone quarry. we used to swim there all the time. Climbing to the top outcrop and looking down is exciting and adventurous. AND if you go in the winter there is the most beautiful crystal blue ice fall that builds up from all the dripping spring water.
ReplyDeleteMy father convinced a cousin that he had to come every winter and leave a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the grinch otherwise he would be angry and steal all your Christmas gifts. We still talk about it at family gatherings.
I've been trying to find the police records for it, because I don't currently know the victims name... But I'm aware there was a murder case in the late 80s (I think the late 80s), where a female body was found in the tunnel. My father has a friend who's girlfriend, or maybe ex-girlfriend at the time, was found in or at the tunnel. The dad recalls the case being deemed a murder, and that it was never solved.
ReplyDelete