Creepy Flat Rock Tunnel, Opened in 1840, Still Active
According to Bridgehunter.com, the 940-foot long Flat Rock Tunnel, located about a half mile south east of Flat Rock Park in Gladwyne, “is an active railroad tunnel near Manayunk, Pennsylvania, USA. The tunnel was built by the Reading Railroad for its line along the Schuylkill River. Construction of the tunnel started in 1836 and it opened in 1840.”
In 1976 the Reading Railroad was absorbed into Conrail. Then in 1999, Conrail was acquired in a joint venture between CSX and Norfolk Southern. Since then, Norfolk Southern has operated and maintained the tunnel.
Over the years there have been numerous fatal accidents that have occurred in or very close to the tunnel. The worst of those disasters was in 1892. Seven people were killed (including a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature) in a collision, just beyond the north end of the tunnel. A passenger train that was going from Pottsville to Philadelphia, crashed into a fleet of empty coal cars.
In 1983, 22 cars in a 119-car train, derailed inside the tunnel. There were no injuries or fatalities, but a dozen residents in nearby Belmont Hills had to evacuate after a damaged tanker leaked about 500 gallons of sulfuric acid.
Ron Costello has written a series of autobiographical novels that take as their locale, the Belmont Hills community where he grew up. In his book, “Dead Kids Don’t Speak,” much of the action takes place in and around the Flat Rock Tunnel. Here’s how he describes the tunnel.
It was dark, pitch black dark in the middle. If a train came, which happened to us several times, you could either run for it and beat it out; or plaster yourself on the inside wall and let it pass. The word on the Hill, however, was tried to let it pass, it could suck you under the wheels. Then the rats would eat what’s left of you. Next day, kids said, there’d be no trace of you; like you disappeared in thin air.
Nobody questioned how kids knew that. Nevertheless, it helped make the mystique of the tunnel scarier … In the middle, all you can see is a tiny light on each end. There are noises, too; made by the the rats and other animals like raccoons and possums. And the animals don’t like the kids disturbing their sanctuary. The rumor mill said there are animals in the tunnel that have never seen daylight. It all added up to fear. The trains that went through were freight trains. Hence they were long and slow, so if you got stuck inside, you were there a long time.
