Browsing Tag: abandoned

Fasten your exploration seatbelts, because today, we’re experiencing part two of our adventure around Basin and Boulder, Montana. And we’re going one mile that way! Today we start our journey deep in the heart of Montana mining country. Immersed in the mountain is an almost forgotten tunnel stretching over a mile through the heart of the rock. This epic feat of engineering was once a main passageway for large steam engines transferring people and valuable ore to and from the mining communities. It has stood the test of time remarkably well and remains open for a few moments longer – allowing the last modern explorers to travel back in time. All right, let’s do this! It’s in situations like this where I like to employ my secret weapon: activate squatch lights! The history of this epic engineering masterpiece seems to enshroud the explorer in a wave of nostalgia of the Wild West. Moving mountains was an impossible task, but for the miners of the time burrowing through the core the mountain was a familiar art. The price was high, lives were lost, but in the end this endeavor was successful. As we continue down this path, journey back into the past – Imagine the sacrifices, the brutal working conditions, and that single moment when the two end of the tunnel became one, and the pinholes of daylight finally, *finally* met and the miners from each end greet each other with celebration! [old radio interference and audio tunes in slowly] [In old-time radio voice….] The first passenger train to pass through the wind tunnel on the Montana Central was the Excursion Train to the Boulder barbeque. The engineer in charge was brother John Cochran, formerly of the Grand Trunk. The passage consumed of just 12 minutes and was made without inconvenience to those on the train. The time will probably be reduced to seven or eight minutes when the first passenger trains are put on, which will be by the 10th of November. The opening of the tunnel marks the completion of one of the most gigantic pieces of tunnel work in the northwest. The tunnel is the neighborhood of 6,200 feet long — nearly a mile and a quarter through the solid rock of the big mountain in the Boulder Range. The entrance on this side is in the gulch about a mile above Wickes. The portals at the other ends are open at the south boundary of the great, Boulder Valley. Work was begun on a tunnel in May, 1887 and daylight was let through in September, 1888. It was constructed by Larsen Keef and company, has said to have cost about 1.5 million dollars. For rapid and excellent work, the contractors are entitled to much credit no less than for carrying successfully to completion such a mammoth undertaking which is a triumph of engineering skill! [old-time radio tunes out and fades] [train sound effects start – old whistle blows and steam engine chugs] [continued train departure sound effects] [epic music fades into the darkness] [old train car on track sounds] I stopped to take a picture of the water, and noticed there’s this little indenture here. Let’s bring the RZR up a little closer so we can take a look inside with the light. Something you won’t be able to hear on camera is just how deafening the sound of the engine is. The sound of the exhaust is reverberating off the walls. It is just overwhelming. It’s truly an awesome experience! Alright, let’s take a look. Ghost Dad: Oh, hey. Oh, geez! Ghost Dad: What up man? Watcha doin’ here Ghost Dad? Ghost Dad: Oh, you know, just kickin’ it old school. What is that? Is that concrete? Ghost Dad: Uh, it is. May have held coal back when they first built this. It’s very heavy, very rigid. It’s not moving anywhere. I Guess we’ll leave it then. All right, you gonna join me for the rest? Ghost Dad: Let’s do this thing! I’m glad you could join me, man. Next time you can just, like, do it not in the tunnel. That was little freaky. Ghost Dad: I just like it down here. I guess. Ghost Dad: All my friends are down here, man. I guess so, man. Remind me never to come to one of your parties. This is where the water gets really deep. The disadvantage of having a UTV is that you have to keep your feet on the pedals even when it gets flooded. Holy mackerel. That’s a little deeper than I thought it was going to be. Wooo! Wow! My feet are wet! Look at that — We’ve got some stalactites on the ceiling. Alright so, if the waters that deep back there. I’m not really sure what it’s gonna be like up here, but we’re going to have to find out. So, this is the deepest of water’s ever been and we’re not even at the deep section, so we’re just gonna have to go for it. Let’s go ahead and give it a shot. I hope that doesn’t have nails in it. Ghost Dad: Fire in the hole! Oh, geez! Ghost Dad: Yeah, get outta the way! Wooo, man! Ghost Dad: Comin’ through! Oh, my gosh! This is deep! Holy smokes! My feet are drenched! Wow! Do not get stuck in that. I’m not really sure what’s gonna be up here, guys. This is gonna be intense! I don’t know guys. This looks really deep! Look at that. We’ve got two waves going in front of us. Three. Oh, geez! Wooo, it’s comin’ in! Woohoo! Oh, man. Good pizza place. Excellent food. Good day of ridin’! All right Ghost Dad. We’ll see… Oh. He’s gone already. Good day of ridin’. And so we find our adventurer in his native environment. Friend of the deer. And of the bear. Able to enjoy nature alone. Or with a friend. Filming explorations and promoting discovery for all to enjoy.