 The north portal of the tunnel in December 2019 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | San Rafael, California |
| Coordinates | 37°59′21″N 122°31′45″W / 37.989201°N 122.529114°W / 37.989201; -122.529114 |
| Status | in service |
| Start | Lincoln Avenue / Los Ranchitos Road |
| End | Hammondale Court |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1879 (1879) |
| Closed | 1985 |
| Rebuilt | 1967 |
| Reopened | 2017 |
| Owner | Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit |
| Operator | Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit |
| Character | Commuter rail tunnel |
| Technical | |
| Track length | 1⁄4 mile (0.4 km) |
| No. of tracks | 1 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Lowest elevation | 50 feet (15 m) below surface |
Puerto Suello Tunnel is a quarter-mile long rail tunnel in San Rafael, California. It was constructed in 1879, by the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad.
Background
The 1⁄4 mile (0.4 km) long tunnel was built in 1879 by the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad.
It was partially destroyed in 1961 by a fire, which was set by two boys. The fire killed 23-year-old firefighter Frank Kinsler when his truck fell 50 feet into the chasm. It was rebuilt for freight service in 1967, but was closed and boarded up in 1985 with the discontinuation of Northwestern Pacific Railroad services. The state-owned North Coast Railroad Authority and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District took ownership of the tunnel in the 1970s and was thereafter acquired by SMART in 2003.
It was retrofitted by SMART for a cost of $3 million in 2015. The 2017 California floods caused damage to the tunnel, delaying system's opening testing for three weeks.
External links
Media related to Puerto Suello Hill Tunnel at Wikimedia Commons
References
- ^ Prado, Mark (April 3, 2017). "Landslide risk in San Rafael halts SMART testing". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
- ^ Wood, Jim (February 2015). "A Tunnel's Second Act". Marin Magazine. Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
- ^ Prado, Mark (March 18, 2015). "Puerto Suello Hill Tunnel for commute rail delayed". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
- "Marin History Watch: San Rafael railroad tunnel collapse". Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
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- Railroad tunnels in California
- Tunnels completed in 1879
- 1879 establishments in California
- Public transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Tunnels in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit
- Transportation buildings and structures in Marin County, California
- Tunnels completed in 2017
- Underground commuter rail
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