| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Tunnel 20 |
| Other name(s) | St Paul Pass Tunnel |
| Location | Mineral County, Montana, Shoshone County, Idaho, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 47°23′20″N 115°38′59″W / 47.3890°N 115.6497°W |
| Status | Hiawatha Trail |
| System | Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension |
| Crosses | Rocky Mountains, Bitterroot Range |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 1906 (by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul Railway Co. of Montana) |
| Opened | 1908 |
| Operator | Milwaukee Road |
| Character | Rail until 1980, now non-motorized trail |
| Technical | |
| Length | 1.661 miles (2.673 km) |
| No. of tracks | Single |
| Track gauge | Standard |
| Electrified | Yes |
| Highest elevation | 4,150 feet (1,265 m) at East Portal |
| Grade | 1.7% |
The St. Paul Pass Tunnel was a railway tunnel in the northwest United States at St. Paul Pass, on the Montana-Idaho border. The tunnel was on the main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad,[1] commonly known as "The Milwaukee Road."
The pass is on the Bitterroot Range of northwestern Montana and the Idaho Panhandle. The Milwaukee Road crossed under it in the St. Paul Pass Tunnel, also known as the Taft Tunnel, completed in 1908; its length is 8,771 feet (1.66 mi; 2.67 km) at 4,150 feet (1,265 m) above sea level at East Portal in Montana. The pass above the tunnel is at an elevation of 5,162 feet (1,573 m). The East Portal is two miles (3 km) southwest of exit 5 of Interstate 90.
With ongoing financial problems which worsened in the 1970s, the Milwaukee line abandoned its right-of-way in the West in 1980, but the tunnel and its approach grades have been revived as a rail trail route for hikers and bicyclists, the Route of the Hiawatha Trail.[2]
- ^ Titone, Julie (August 1, 2000). "Idaho's time tunnel". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. B3.
- ^ "Trail map". Route of the Hiawatha. Retrieved July 6, 2017.