Torrent Tunnel

The Torrent Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel along the Kentucky Union Railway in Kentucky.

After the Kentucky Union Railway (KU) was completed between the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy Railroad, and Clay City in 1885. The building of the line toward Jackson in 1890 included the boring of a tunnel at Torrent. ²

In 1891, the KU went into receivership. ^{1, 2, 3.1} It was sold for $1 million at a public auction and was reorganized as the Lexington & Eastern Railway (L&E) on October 16, 1894, ² which was acquired by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) in 1910. ¹

The L&N saw the KU’s alignment between Winchester and Maloney as a determinant to hauling coal because of its numerous steep grades and tunnels, and in 1916 the L&N constructed a new alignment was constructed from Winchester and Irvine. ² Traffic along the KU between Winchester and Maloney declined substantially, and in 1942, a 46.6-mile section of the KU from North Winchester and Fincastle, including the Torrent Tunnel, was abandoned. Another six miles between Fincastle and Maloney was dismantled in 1947.

Information

• State: Kentucky
• Route: Louisville & Nashville Railroad
• Type: Tunnel
• Status: Abandoned / Closed

Sources

1. Klein, Maury. “Gotterdammerung: The Close of an Era, 1902-1921.” History of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2003. 401-04. Print.
2. Sulzer, Elmer G. “The Late and Early.” Ghost Railroads of Kentucky. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998. 13-26. Print.
3. Ambrose, William M. Kentucky Union Railway. Lexington: Limestone Press, 2007. Print.
   1. “Introduction.” 1-4.
   2. “Kentucky Union Railway.” 5-.