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Alto Tunnel - Corte Madera to Mill Valley

Yep, we've had some discussion about the Alto Tunnel in the Forum "Cal Park Hill Tunnel."  Thought I would start a new forum here so we can keep em all separated.  There's probably a few others of us that may have walked this tunnel.

Steve, you found some interesting current information.  Looked at it briefly, will read it through this weekend.

There have been several studies done by various groups over the years.  They're on the net. I'll try to find them.  In one of the reports, I believe it stated that the SP still owns the center section of the Alto Tunnel.

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Permalink Reply by B Richards on December 9, 2011 at 2:18pm

Hubby and I walked thru the Alto tunnel from Mill Valley to Corte Madera one Saturday. Crazy kids!! It was back in the early 1960's. We lived on Montecito Dr. The freight trains only ran on the weekdays. The tunnel was single track and narrow. Big thick timbers overhead and down the sides. If a train did come along there was room to get between the timbers on both sides of the tunnel. It was very exciting to walk this shortcut, but I was glad to exit the North portal and be home.

Permalink Reply by B Richards on December 9, 2011 at 2:19pm

I don't remember a ventilation shaft or daylight half way thru. Hubby might, he walked the tunnel several times as a kid. I do know you could see straight thru the tunnel ("light at the other end") or I may not have taken this shortcut home.

Permalink Reply by David L ILLICH on December 19, 2011 at 11:15am

read below there is not a vent to the tunnel it is mmwd  pipe line above the tunnel

 

Permalink Reply by Zachary M. Toler on December 9, 2011 at 2:38pm

"I believe it stated that the SP still owns the center section of the Alto Tunnel." Wouldn't be SP, since SP was bought by UP.

 

Zachary M. Toler

Permalink Reply by Zachary M. Toler on December 9, 2011 at 2:46pm

 

Even the Balloon Track in Eureka is supposedly "owned" by UP, even though no UP engine has ever been North of Willits, and very few (if any) have made it that far up the NWP line.

 

Zachary M. Toler

Permalink Reply by Alex on December 9, 2011 at 4:36pm

I lived near the tunnel in the 60's,it was a fun place to play as a kid.The Mill Valley side looked like a mine shaft.The Corte Madera side had a concrete portal.There was a siding on the Corte Madera side and some form of storage building.Water ran out of the tunnel all year long.Being in the tunnel with a train going through was something you had to do as a kid.On the Mill Valley side was a height gage that span the track before the tunnel, as the top of the tunnel was not round due to the use of  timbers.I lived by the Mill Valley siding and remember one car would not fit throught the tunnel,they left the car at the siding and a crew came and cut the top sides of the car so it would fit.As kids we never had any problems playing or walking in the tunnel.The engine that ran that route was SP 1000 and there was always an NWP caboose.There was no ventilation shaft that I remember.

Permalink Reply by Gary E. McCourt on December 9, 2011 at 5:11pm

The first 6 years of my 35 year career with the US Postal Service, was spent in Corte Madera/Larkspur... I delivered mail ( even though I was a CLERK ! ) on 2 different routes, that neighbored this tunnel... Montecito Ave. / Tunnel Lane.... ) I love this area ! The NWP is my FAVE RR !!!  Check out the current issue of Classic Trains... last page... NWP !!

Permalink Reply by Andrew F. Laverdiere on December 11, 2011 at 10:25am

I've got three pictures of the north and south ends of the tunnel in my album. This picture is the only thing left of the south end that would indicate a tunnel. This was difficult to reach due to the overgrown condition of the area. It was thrilling to find though.

Permalink Reply by Dave S. on December 13, 2011 at 6:34am

(Moving this comment over from the Cal Park Hill Tunnel.  )

Found a really interesting study on the Alto tunnel from April 2010:

http://www.walkbikemarin.org/documents/mv_cm_study/FINAL%20Study/Ap...

One relevant passage from p. 11:

Reports of vent shafts to the Alto Tunnel have proven inaccurate. The Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) operates a short pipeline tunnel that is parallel to and above the Alto Tunnel alignment (see Figure 9). Access hatches to this pipeline have been mistaken for vent shafts for the Alto Tunnel. The lack of air circulation coupled with the water that seeps into the tunnel create a highly humid atmosphere or possibly submerged conditions that have likely resulted in the deterioration of the timber support system. It is also likely that additional localized collapses have occurred during the past 30 years.

The "shaft" that I observed was made from creosoted timbers about the same size as standard ties, hence the RR connection. The one thing that I noticed at the time that worked against my theory of a shaft down to the RR tunnel was that the timbers looked relatively new. So I was thinking that it had be rehabilitated. This all makes much more sense now. If they were really concerned about ventilation they wouldn't seal off both ends of the tunnel!

On page 36 of the above PDF a man describes how he traversed the length of he tunnel from south to north, then back again c. 1978. Pretty scary! He has a photo to prove it too!

 

Permalink Reply by Derek Wilson on February 23, 2012 at 1:06am

I grew up in Mill Valley and I remember picking blackberries by the Alto Tunnel. It might be nice to see a train go through the tunnel again, but I'd be happy if they just opened it up as a pedestrian pathway again. I live in Larkspur now and I've seen the success of the CalPark Tunnel. No reason it wouldn't work with the Alto Tunnel.

Permalink Reply by Derek Wilson on March 6, 2012 at 1:44pm

Is there a possibility of getting the tunnel reopened as a bike/pedestrian path? I've heard some Corte Madera leaders say they'd like to see this, but the homeowners don't seem to like the idea. I'd love to hear thoughts from anyone and everyone about this. I'll post them to Larkspur-Corte Madera Patch. Hopefully that will generate some public discussion and might get the ball rolling on something.

Permalink Reply by Dave S. on March 6, 2012 at 2:11pm

As a rail fan and bicyclist, I would be in favor of reopening the Alto Tunnel for either purpose!

There's plenty of information about this possibility online.  You can start here:

http://www.marinbike.org/Campaigns/Infrastructure/AltoFAQs.shtml

They managed to get the Cal Park Hill tunnel reopened at a cost of about $30M.  About 1/3rd of the east side of the bore is currently available to bicyclists; the remaining 2/3rds on the west side will be used by SMART.

 

The Alto tunnel is probably in far worse shape as it has been sealed up for a much longer period of time and had many problems before it was closed around 1971.

 

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