Under the City

Above, path of the 8th Street Tunnel.... built in 1887-1888 and closed in 1956. It was a cable car route from the middle of Eighth Street down to Union Depot in the beginning. Below the entrance on Eighth Street. Close to where the Needle Sculpture is now. (Top image courtesy of Wikimapia)

UPDATE: There were actually two tunnels. The original tunnel which is shown in the pictures below was too steep a grade and the railway cars kept breaking away... (not good)... so a second tunnel with a lesser grade was bored through the rock. 1st tunnel entrance/exit was about where the needle sculpture is now... second tunnel entrance/exit was approximately where the fountain is now... both on Eighth street.
Below.... looking east on Eighth.... tunnel entrance in lower center. The tunnel had two tracks for going and coming.
There is an awesome post on the Underground Ozarks blog about the discovery and building of the tunnel.... http://www.undergroundozarks.com/8thstreetkcs.html
The west entrance into the bluffs.... 250,000 pounds of dynamite had to be used to blast through the solid rock
Above.... the trestle heading into the West entrance. Below... same trestle from above... this would be the approximate view from Case Park today.
A portion of the tunnel was preserved by the thoughtful folks at State Street... who realized a need to preserve a part of KC history. My Nephew Johnathan, who is a manager at State Street, let me know about a tour of the remaining tunnel and I was only too happy to head over there. Above is the modern entry to the tunnel.... most of the brickwork of which the tunnel is constructed is still there.... note the tunnel arch around the doorway in the pix below.


Above.... looking through the entrance to the tunnel. State Street built a walkway out into the tunnel to make for a safe trip... they also illuminated the tunnel with modern lights....
Just inside the doorway our guide talked about the construction and showed pamphlets and STAR articles about the re-discovery.
Concrete supported the double tracks... above.... below... a lot of the old wiring is still there.

Above.... rusted brackets..... below... the tunnel was 800 feet long and 23 feet tall.


Above.... looking back toward the entrance State Street installed. This is located in their parking garage but there is no entry allowed unless it's part of a tour.. The entrance is totally blocked off with fencing and doors the rest of the time.
Golden oldie light bulb.






Most of the original wooden components have rotted away...
Above, the ceiling... brick all-round.

Occasionally workmen had to enter the tunnel for routine maintenance. If, while they were working, a car was coming up or down the tracks the worker could duck into one of many recesses in the wall until the car was safely passed.
Concrete has filled much of the tunnel.... don't know why.







Above....another safety recess....
Looking back to the entrance.


It was a cool visit... literally... dank and humid describes it... with a musty odor... Thank heavens a bit of the 8th Street Tunnel has been preserved.

P.S. Anonymous commenter is correct.... if you go to the end of the smooth concrete there is drop off. Down from there (ladder required... wasn't on our tour)... there is another tunnel.... part of the same complex...

What Kansas City Does Best....

It tears down its history. City Market... probably 1800s.... congratulations to whomever is responsible for this. Destruction of heritage is a noble pursuit.

Drive Hike With A Side Of Trail/Museum

Every weekend Cliff Drive is closed to motorized traffic (except for the idiot on the motorcycle for whom closed gates aren't a hint). Bikers, hikers and walkers are out in force. Above the East Entrance.
I took a brief side trek on part of the Indian Mound Trail to see what wild flowers were in bloom.

Above and below.... photographing the greenery is particularly nice in Spring because nothing is yet nibbled.


Above more wild flowers... below an early part of the trail. The Boy Scouts have already been along the trail clearing it for this years hikers.

Above.... a couple of weeks ago one of my commenters talked about May Apples... they are in bloom now... unusual in that the single bloom is below the leaves at a junction of stems.... and yes the resulting fruit is edible... but I think careful preparation is in order.
Fresh leaves above and leaves and stickers below... on a locust tree.

Above two Sentinel Sycamores line the early part of the road. Below another shot of the waterfall.
Below.... the falls had uptop visitors... folks aren't supposed to be up there... but I won't tell if you won't.

Fresh and minty green.

Biker in transit for conditioning.
Above and below.... good old limestone.... our central region used to be under an inland sea... a few million years ago... thus critter remains in rocks.
Below.... skittish Cardinal... wouldn't pose to save his soul.


Hickory blooms above and the last of the redbuds below.

Above.... these two sinuous trunks were bent to the ground in our last ice storm... and, after the ice melted, they just decided to stay that way.... so all their branches grow up not out.



The light today was unusually diffuse for a partial sun day... and worked well for photographs.


Memorial bench along Goose Neck...

Stopped by the Museum to see the Wisteria... which is just gorgeous this year...
The blooms are so plentiful that you can smell them walking down Gladstone in front of the mansion.... these are trellised in the rear of the house.

Not a bad view to the west across the valley.
We could call this Wisteria Lane but I think that has contemporary connotations.
Coincident with my visit to the Wisteria was a Hard Hat Tour of the house.... I'll blog about that tomorrow (or so).