Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
RE: tunnels under downtown Dallas<> In answer to the very good questions raised here:1.    Prior to the 1916 opening of Dallas Union Terminal and the associated belt line (between the south side of downtown and the Trinity River, thence around the east side of what was then the edge of the city), the T&P ran east-west at grade (actually, on a slight embankment) on Pacific Avenue--that's where the street got its name.  This was a two-track mainline plus associated drill tracks and industrial spurs, plus the trackage for the T&P passenger station.  This line cut the city in half north-south.  The original H&TC (later TNO/SP) alignment was at grade down the center of Central Avenue (now Central Expy/US75), and cut the city in half east-west.  They had a joint station where they crossed, one of several that existed before DUT.  The landmark George Kessler plan of 1913 proposed the creation of a union station and elimination of the tracks from both Central and Pacific Avenues, along with Trinity River levees and other improvements, many of which got built.  The tracks were never really eliminated except in the immediate downtown area.  The T&P still extended from the east almost to Central to access its original freight station and multiple industries still located east of downtown (in the general "Deep Ellum" area), and made it almost to Griffin from the west to serve the industries and warehouses in the West End.  Similarly, the H&TC made it almost up to Pacific from the south to serve a yard and industries southeast of downtown in what was then called East Dallas, and then it was removed up to where it crossed the Katy at about Mockingbird Lane near SMU.  From this point north it stayed in place as an industrial lead south from just south of Richardson, where the Belt Line rejoined it.  This former H&TC line north of Mockingbird is the DART light rail to Plano.  The former Katy main line east of this point is the DART light rail to Garland.  There never was a railroad tunnel in downtown Dallas operated by either the T&P or the H&TC/TNO/SP.2.    The GC&SF (Santa Fe) did operate what is best described as a series of dead-end tunnels on the south side of downtown Dallas to provide access from their freight station trackage to the warehouse facilities in the Santa Fe Building (which was a complex of several very large buildings over several square blocks, and not just one building).   These were spur tracks serving underground loading platforms.  Santa Fe operated a fireless cooker on these tracks during the age of steam.  By the late 1950's these facilities were largely out of service.  I understand that most of these tunnels may still be there but are closed off and inaccessible.  The Dallas Public Library and probably the Degolyer collection have photos of this trackage in service.3.    Other than the Santa Fe complex, the only additional railroad-related tunnel in downtown Dallas was the pedestrian concourse under the tracks added to DUT shortly after WWII when the Trinity River was relocated and the levees were built, producing the Trinity Industrial District in the old river bottoms and giving DUT a much-needed (at the time) parking lot west of the tracks.  This was when the T&P relocated its freight station (which was just torn down in the last few months) to just west of Industrial and north of the main line northwest of DUT, and the RI relocated theirs from the south side of downtown to just north of Continental where I-35E and Continental intersect today.  All of these facilities opened circa 1948.  The former B-RI track parallel to I-35E in this area (that served the RI freight station) is now TRE/DART, and the American Airlines Center sits on the old Katy yard site.   The Light rail running up to Victory is roughly on the old SSW ROW that was abandoned in the early 1960's when the Dallas North Tollway was built on it up to just south of the town of Addison. 4.    The downtown commercial tunnels referenced in the discussion are products of downtown redevelopment originating with the Main Place project in the 1960's.  This network has grown over time and now encompasses a significant portion of the downtown area, providing air-conditioned access to buildings, parking, and commercial establishments.  None of the tunnels are associated with any railroads.5.    The DART tunnel was bored specifically for the light rail project. Hope this info is useful.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag