In the beginning there were a few schemes tried to tunnel through Hoosac Mountain. The above pen and ink drawing shows an early unsuccessful trial of “Wilson’s Patented Stone Cutting Machine”. The approach to the tunnel was not ready at the time the machine was assembled, so the machine was put to the test just to the left of where the east portal would be located. It sliced its way into the face of the mountain to a depth of twelve feet and jammed. Years later it was cut up and sold for scrap.
Years later, nature had taken its toll on the old opening. With the addition of a ceiling the railroad made a storage room out of the old test hole. This picture shows what is left of the doorway to the room.
Entering the hole shows pieces of old machinery and the marks that the tunnel machine scratched into the rock of Hoosac Mountain on March 16, 1853.
View outside east portal.
View inside of the tunnel looking east.
