On Thursday, January 29, 1948, the Mountain Eagle newspaper of Whitesburg , Kentucky, reported that, on the following Tuesday, the first train would travel through the 3, 600 feet of tunnel bored through the the 3/4 mile high, linear-straight razor of a Mountain called Pine. It would travel from Jenkins, Kentucky, to the coal fields around Pound, Virginia, where coal seams were reputed to be 15 feet in thickness! Within 10 years, those coal mines would play out and the tunnel was closed. There are some efforts to reopen a portion as a tourist attraction. It is certainly worthy of that Historical-Geological-Hiking designation!
Ronald R. Van Stockum, Jr. is a lawyer, teacher, biologist, writer, guitarist, and recently an actor living on his family's old farm in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
He has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Santa Clara University, and a Masters and PhD. in Biology from the University of Louisville. He also has his Juris Doctorate in Law from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law. He practices law from offices in Shelbyville, Kentucky concentrating his legal practice in environmental law. His biologic research is in historical phytogeography.
Dr. Van Stockum, Jr. has published numerous books, articles, and short stories in the areas of law, science, and creative writing. Eighteen of his titles are available on Amazon in hardback, softback, and Kindle formats.
2 Comments
designer2014
July 4, 2022 at 11:55 amGreat. Video, Reggie! It is interesting to see what the tunnel looks like inside. A piece of Kentucky’s history.
Darrell
July 4, 2022 at 4:58 pmThank you Reggie, for taking us into the heart of Appalachia. – Darrell