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The Uncompleted Blue Ridge Railroad - 1 Rabun County, GA |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2019) |
|
The Uncompleted Blue Ridge Railroad - 1 Rabun County, GA |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2019) |
| November - My first day of exploring for evidence of the BRRR: Rather than begin my search at one of the RR's endpoints, for some reason I began in the middle of the RR's route through Rabun Co. This was perhaps due to a desire to see its most notable feature. |
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| Massive stone bridge abutment, 28 feet high |
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| The bridge here would have spanned Warwoman Creek |
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| Undated early photo of the massive abutment (Courtesy Rabun Co. Historical Society) |
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| West entrance of the largest tunnel, often referred to as the Black Diamond. A small water cascade tumbles into the opening. |
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| This tunnel was about half completed when construction ended. From this end, it goes in about 1400 feet. |
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| View into the tunnel entrance. This tunnel was sloped downward, and is now filled with water. Since the ground rises from east to west here, once the two sides of the tunnel had been joined, any water would have flowed out the east end. |
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| A mile away, a stone culvert was built where the RR grade crosses a small tributary. |
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| Opposite side of the culvert |
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| Walking along a section of RR berm (filled grade) The route is a series of cuts and fills (berms) required to keep the RR line more or less level, with minimal sloping grades. |
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| Railroad cut |
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| Through the cut approaching the eastern tunnel entrance. It was like walking through a jungle! |
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| Eastern tunnel entrance This side also has a small waterfall tumbing into the opening. |
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| 160+ years of falling water has silted up the tunnel opening. The current ground level is now only 5 feet from the roof of the tunnel. |
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| Only about 60 feet of this end of the tunnel was ever completed. |
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| Another section of RR berm / fill (raised grade). This grade was about 20 feet above the surrounding low area between two ridges. |
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| At one point, two long raised berm areas run parallel to each other. This view looks over to the end of one berm from the other one. The material came from the nearby tunnel approach cut. |
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| A group of small mushrooms growing in the moss... |