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The Bramhope Tunnel is a railway tunnel long, owned by Network Rail on a route currently operated mainly by Northern Rail. It was constructed during 1845–1849 on the Harrogate Line, carrying rural and commuter passengers between Horsforth and Arthington in West Yorkshire, England. It is notable for its length, for its crenellated north portal, which is Grade II listed, and for the deaths of 24 men during its construction, commemorated in Otley churchyard with a castellated replica of the north portal. It was constructed by Thomas Grainger, engineer and James Bray, overseer, who set up two sighting towers and then twenty shafts along the line of the tunnel. Men dug horizontally from these shafts until the diggings joined up in 1848. Thousands of navvies lived locally in bothies with their families, and dug in dangerous and wet conditions to facilitate the grand opening in 1849. == History == The tunnel was first proposed in 1843 with an estimate of £800,000 approved in 1845, though the final cost by 1849 was £2,150,313 and the lives of 24 men. Thomas Grainger〔 was the engineer and James Bray was the contracted overseer in 1845 for the construction of the Horsforth–Arthington tunnel under Bramhope and the ridge between Airedale and Wharfedale. Bray was a Leeds iron and brass founder, and previously constructed the Thackley Tunnel, Bradford. Two sighting towers were built for the engineers to keep the line true, then from 20 October 1845 twenty shafts were sunk to enable access for tunnelling. Tunnelling started after the foundation stone was laid at the bottom of No. 1 airshaft in July 1846. The separate diggings first joined up into one long tunnel on 27 November 1848, and it was completed in summer 1849.〔 The southern entrance or portal is usually described as plain, but is admired by some. The north portal is castellated, and after it was finished was lived in for a while by railway workers. The north portal was listed Grade II in 1988.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Bramhope Tunnel: Grade II listing, 1988, with description )〕 The finished tunnel is 2 miles, 243 yd or long; wide by high. It is a double track tunnel, with a gradient of 1 in 94 (0.01%) down from Horsforth to Arthington and at its deepest point, just to the north of Breary Lane, it is below the surface. The construction was for the Leeds Northern Railway and the East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway, which together later became the North Eastern Railway. The grand opening was 9 July 1849, but the first train went through on 31 May in the same year, full of Leeds and Thirsk railway officials, and pulled by Bray's locomotive ''Stephenson''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bramhope Tunnel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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