Driving Home

After leaving Savoy Mountain State Park, we stopped briefly at the Central Shaft of the Hoosac tunnel.  When the tunnel was originally dug, from about 1850 to 1875, the work was accomplished from both ends.  At one point a hole, the central shaft, was dug from the top of the mountain straight down to the tunnel area, the idea being that work could be done from the middle to meet the tunnels from the east and west, hence speeding up the project.  Unfortunately, the shaft did not appreciably speed up the project and led to an accident in which a dozen men were killed. The shaft did prove useful as a ventilation shaft which was particularly necessary in the era of coal fired trains.  Fans in the shaft cleared the smoke made by the nearly 50 trains per day that used the tunnel.

For our trip home we chose a route that would avoid as many of the busy interstates as possible. From North Adams we took route 2 to Williamstown then the Taconic Trail over the mountains to Troy.  After a while we picked up I-83 to Binghamton.  From there we took the Southern Tier Expressway (Rt 17 or I-86).  Except for a bit of traffic near  Albany, we enjoyed roads with lovely views, few cars, and virtually no trucks.  We stopped for the night in Olean NY at a Walmart.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)