N&W in 1903 -- Eggleston Tunnel

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TUNNEL CAVED IN KILLING SIX MEN
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    A report reached this city early last evening to the effect that eight men had been killed in Eggleston tunnel.  It was at first impossible to gather any details, and all sorts of rumors began to circulate.  One story was that passenger train No. 2 was caught in the tunnel and that the eight killed were passengers on that train.  A railroad official who was seen by the Telegraph man flatly contradicted that story, but admitted that there had been a slide, or cave-in, at Eggleston tunnel.
    Nothing definite could be learned until No. 3 reached Bluefield, which was after midnight, and but few details could be obtained then.  Enough was gleaned from the passengers, however, to show beyond a doubt that some men were caught in a cave-in in a tunnel just this side of Eggleston, and that six of them were killed.  Who the victims were could not be learned.  It was only known that they were laborers employed on the construction work near Eggleston.
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    The trouble at Eggleston tunnel proper and which delayed No. 3, was the result of a heavy blast which was fired at the end of the tunnel.
    The force of the explosion was so great that the timbers were loosened and the weight of the earth behind them pushed them in so that there was not room for the train to pass.
    The train entered the tunnel  moving slowly, and tried to force a passage, but only the first two cars could be gotten through.  It then backed out and made another effort, but with no better success, as there was not room for the Pullman car to pass.  It then backed out a second time and a force had to be set to work to prop the timbers back into their original position before the train could pass through.

Bluefield Daily Telegraph
May 7, 1903

[In June 1901, heavy rains caused a heavy slide or cave-in in Eggleston Tunnel that interrupted service for several days according to the 1901 Annual Report.  Also, The First Eggleston Tunnel was replaced by a double-track tunnel on new location, length 893 feet as reported in the 1906 Annual Report.  The work referred to in the above article could have been in connection with the doubletracking that was probably underway in 1903 because it was reported in the 1906 Annual Report as almost finished from Eggleston to Pembroke, 6 miles. Finally, The second Eggleston tunnel was replaced by a double track tunnel on new location, length 1176 feet according to the 1907 Annual Report.]

Gordon Hamilton
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