Tuesday 9 December 2014

Oaro Tunnel

Tunnels 1-4 on the Main North Line are between Claverley and Oaro.
Tunnel No.4 in particular is about 1 km south of Oaro. It is one of a handful of tunnels that have been abandoned due to earth movement.
Oaro
The tunnel portal at the south end used to be a lot more visible than it is today. The northern end might still be visible on GE although it would take on-foot reconnaissance to verify exactly its position.
20080103-091850_A450 The south end tunnel portal as seen from beside the track. This used to have a gate over it and was relatively open. However in more recent years the inside of the tunnel has been filled in as quite a few stupid foamers have gone inside it. It is dangerous due to having collapsed from earth movement – the white soil is blue papa which is a soft mudstone that slips very easily. The actual date when it was abandoned isn’t well known but is possibly the early 1950s.