The Amazing Sutro Tunnel
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- I had wanted to visit the Sutro Tunnel for quite a while given its historical significance and the engineering marvel that it was… However, the tunnel is on private property and has a caretaker. So, I was quite happy to receive an invitation to visit and film the site.
The “Friends of Sutro Tunnel” group (thesutrotunnel...) are doing good things - preserving what remains at the site and restoring what can be restored. Furthermore, they are making preparations to get the tunnel opened up again, which would be fascinating to see. As I mentioned in the video, there are supposed to be some very interesting things back there...
The story of Adolph Sutro and the Sutro Tunnel project is an interesting one and I would suggest looking at the website above or looking around online for more details, but to quickly summarize: the project was conceived of, and led by, Adolph Sutro, a Prussian immigrant. The idea was that a drainage adit run into the heart of the Comstock Lode in Virginia City would more efficiently drain the mines and also help with ventilation, make transportation easier and offer an alternative exit to miners in case of emergencies. Later, the tunnel was also used to haul out waste rock (for a fee, of course).
Adolph Sutro had been selling tobacco in San Francisco, but left for Virginia City in 1860 after the potential of the Comstock Lode was more fully realized. Construction of the Sutro Tunnel commenced on October 19th, 1869 and water began to flow in 1878 after years of work and many natural and man-made obstacles.
Anticipating the rich ore in the Comstock Lode beginning to play out, however, Sutro had been steadily selling his shares in the project toward the end. He took the proceeds from these share sales and returned to San Francisco, where he, arguably, made an even bigger name for himself as mayor of the city and developer of Sutro Baths, Cliff House and other projects. Sutro died in 1898.
Thank you to the Friends of Sutro Tunnel for having me out to visit and thank you to all of those who are putting the Sutro Tunnel back on the map... Also, some of you may have recognized my buddy, Michael, from Gold Country Explorers (check out his page on Facebook - there is some great material there) with me on this visit. Credit goes to him for connecting me with the Friends of Sutro Tunnel.
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All of these videos are uploaded in HD, so I’d encourage you to adjust your settings to the highest quality if it is not done automatically.
You can see the gear that I use for mine exploring here: bit.ly/2wqcBDD
As well as a small gear update here: bit.ly/2p6Jip6
You can see the full TVR Exploring playlist of abandoned mines here: goo.gl/TEKq9L
Several kind viewers have asked about donating to help cover some of the many expenses associated with exploring these abandoned mines. Inspired by their generosity, I set up a Patreon account. So, if anyone would care to chip in, I’m under TVR Exploring on Patreon.
Thanks for watching!
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Growing up in California’s “Gold Rush Country” made it easy to take all of the history around us for granted. However, abandoned mine sites have a lot working against them - nature, vandals, scrappers and various government agencies… The old prospectors and miners that used to roam our lonely mountains and toil away deep underground are disappearing quickly as well.
These losses finally caught our attention and we felt compelled to make an effort to document as many of the ghost towns and abandoned mines that we could before that colorful niche of our history is gone forever.
So, yes, in short, we are adit addicts… I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!
#ExploringAbandonedMines
#MineExploring
#AbandonedMines
#UndergroundMineExploring
The story of Mr. Sutro is something else. An amazing length of tunnel built to drain the mines and move ore, but the guy sold his shares before everybody realized that the mines had basically stopped producing. THEN he had the grand opening ceremony just for show. He left a millionaire, and everybody else got the shaft(literally).
He did some good in San Francisco, though. The Sutro Baths and the cable car to them were an amazing public works project, I think the old man self-funded. "Baths" doesn't convey the scale. Aside from the gigantic covered swim-pools I think there was an ice-rink. His original idea with the tunnel was win-win: he thought he'd cut through new ore bodies, but zilch. Probably that was his big hint to get out. Are you dissing my guy?:)
This has been a mystery to me for over 30 years, I need to see what is in the tunnel, I need to see how it looks as it goes into the mine as far as it can go, I'd want to see in the Mine. This was like Pancakes for breakfast, but no Syrup. I need Syrup on this Pancake.
Read books, young man! You can get "Adolph, Sutro, a Biography." but what turned me on to him was "The Big Bonanza" by Glasscock. (do not confuse with same title, difft author.) Eliot Lord's "Comstock Mining and Miners" fills it all in. The Comstock built San Francisco, financed the Union in the Civil war, and sucked into its steaming depths most of the first-growth forest of the entire Sierra Nevada.
What an incredible place. As a horse person, I especially loved seeing the mule barn in such original condition. It looks like you could practically still use the stalls.
We were told that the mules were treated like pets and loved by the tunnel workers
@@goldcountryexplorers8332 The facility looks like it was built by a competent horse person who likes equines and had ideas about "best practices" based on other good examples of horse facilities at that time. There would have been ex cavalry officers around for instance. it's different from how a barn would be today (almost everyone today uses box stalls where the horse is in there loose, never the straight tie stalls--even though working horses were kept contented in that style of stall for generations) but it's got that nice corral on it, which they probably kept the mules out a lot of the time. The stalls must have been used part-time, especially for feeding them individually.
I remember Ol’ Rosa.
She gave me a rash of some kind.
Good afternoon from Southeast South Dakota
Greetings from Pennsylvania. My wife loves S. Dakota. We'll get out there one day hopefully!
“Gly”: Thanks for the tour! I’ve always wanted to get a closer look at that location. Exploring that adit would definitely be a fun adventure if permission was gained.
Yes, this one had been on my wish list for a long time as well. Glad I could share the experience with others that are curious about it... And, yes, the tunnel would definitely be physically possible to explore now if one could get permission.
By the way, I've been meaning to thank you for the kind words you shared about my situation and my family back in December when we were getting hammered with relentless bad news. I was hoping to thank you in person, but perhaps some other time. Either way, I wanted you to know of my appreciation and gratitude.
Lived in Dayton for several years. Never got to go in the Sutro Tunnel, but have been up the road. Thanks for the tour.
always nice to see an upload notification from TVR, thank you for making content :)
One of the most thorough videos on the history of the Sutro Tunnel, the grounds, and the town of Sutro. Thank you, Justin. I am lucky enough to live nearby and am taking a tour next week. It’s been a dream of mine for years!
I'll be looking forward to more video footage of this place in the future!!! 🤠👍
Welcome to my hometown. It's not much, but it's home.
Looks cool man. The lack of trees would mess with my mind being from the Pennsylvania mountains, but very awesome scenery.
@@AnthraciteHorrorStories The trees were all cut down for fuel in many miles direction.
@@redrider7730 Nevada native here. When I moved to the Pacific Northwest a decade ago I dealt with some pretty bad claustrophobia from all the trees. I'm glad to see I'll be moving back this year! Can't take any more rain lol. I'm actually hoping to move into Carson or Dayton or the surrounding area. Unfortunately rentals are super expensive.
@@rogersmith7396 I see, yikes. That's why coal ended up being such a hot commodity due to forest depletion, etc.
@@redrider7730 hahaha, that's cool. I feel exposed in the open. I can appreciate it though. I went to Canyon Lands National Park, very awesome sights to behold, the Petrified Forest National Park too.
The Sutro once led into square set stopes beyond your wildest dreams. Not sure any of that underground is still open today, but the old stories make one want to find out! Even viewing a smidge of what remains there would be fascinating and a privilege.
So tempting to squeak past the gate and take a long hard explore inside the tunnel. Very interesting rundown on this location. Thanks ! 👍 👍
My Dad took us out there when I was a child of about 5 or 6 which would have been 1965 or 66. I remember the mill and the trestle so it is good to see the old pictures. I didn't know until now it burned in 67. There were some interesting women characters out there my Mom told me not to talk to. Good old Nevada.
Yes, the Sutro Tunnel was bored straight as an arrow for 3.88 miles to intersect with the Comstock Lode at depth in distant Virginia City.
However, not all the waste rock from digging was brought forth from the tunnel at it’s entrance(exit)...
Adolf Sutro’s Construction-company utilized 4 separate vertical Mine-shafts in the hills between the mouth and VC to facilitate his tunnel construction as well as remove waste rock & provide ventilation.
Great piece of history being preserved here. Thank you for taking us with you Justin!
I live 20 minutes away from this site. Always wanted to visit it. I have an interest in the Comstock Lode and its history. Glad they are trying to reopen the area.
A similar drainage tunnel was built in the Red Mountain mining district near Ironton, north of Silverton. It addressed the same problem, removing water by gravity instead of pumping it out of the deep mines. Once again, you put up a great video and narration!
the drainage pond was probably fenced off from the wild horses due to heavy metal contamination and other dangerous colloidals in suspension.... gold mining following quartz vein runs the risk of unleashing huge amounts of natural arsenic crystals.... i lived up in far north queensland (herberton) and my hound became real sick after drinking river water contaminated with mine runoff.... thanks for the upload real interesting.... greetings from tasmania
What an awesome place, a trip inside the tunnel would be fantastic
Justin , Thank You for the tour of the Sutro Tunnel area . I was last there in 1958 as a youngster with my family while on vacation . We had initially gone to see Virginia City and then came over to see the Sutro Tunnel . I went on the Tour with my Father while my Mother remained outside with my Sisters who were too young to go on the Tour . There was about a dozen of us on the Tour and we were all told to wear a coat , jacket , or heavy sweater as it would be quite cool inside the Tunnel . They provided everyone with Hard Hats with Electric Cap Lamps , and we all walked approximately a mile back into the Tunnel to a wooden barricade where they were replacing some of the timbers inside the Tunnel . There was a large pipe running the length of the Tunnel above the ''piss ditch'' and you could hear the water flowing through it , and the ''piss ditch'' was also nearly full and flowing to the drain at the Portal . --- In your video of the area outside , I was appalled at how much was missing , removed , or destroyed . The old photo at 12:35 was very similar to how it looked when I was there in 1958 , with buildings on both sides of the Portal , but when I was there , there were a string of Ore Cars on the track in front of the Portal . The collapse just inside the Portal at 11:25 was very disheartening that they didn't keep up the maintenance of the Tunnel . --- < Doc > .
amazing,me too,but about 1960-63. Pop took a pic from the portal entrance or exit,looking East down the tracks with the building off the tailings end,you see in their video. Yep a whole string of 8 ore cars and one more close to the sutro exit next to a medium sized cottonwood, that blocked from view,, the bldgs close on our left.
I dont remember tours. It might have been a day they were closed,I just dont recallthat detail.
There was that 1ore car on tracks that was close to the sutro entrance.It was abt 15+ ft from the entrance and next to the med sized cottonwood that fed off the water flow out of the sutro drainage tunnel.
BTW my dad bought an ore car there shortly after and I now have it in my front yard . Lucky for me the HOA board didnt receive any complaints about it.(that something only people familiar with "hoa gated community residents" can appreciate
You find some of the coolest stuff. Thank you for sharing with us.
When I was 7, 1972, I lived in Hazen, went to school in Fallon, Oats Park Elementry. During summer school we went on a field trip to the Sutro Tunnel. I remember a tour guide taking us way into the mine, and turned off the lights . It was so dark you couldnt see your hand in front of your face.... Thanks for giving the look around of it now
At 3:36, that's a hit-and-miss engine. They usually run on gasoline but diesel or kerosene were also used. I helped (mainly swinging a 20-pound sledge to dislodge the head) restore one to operating condition last year. They're very interesting, and extremely fuel-efficient because of the momentum stored in that huge flywheel!
Really great visible history! And I agree about the wild horses! Damn encroachment... Thanks for filming! Hopefully inside in the future!
Great site we visited it back in the late sixties! Thank's for the update! As with you sure want to see inside tunnel!
Really hope they get this open so you can take us inside! Great video!
A great tour thnx loved watching it, hope they can get it restored, getting in that tunnel will be a surprise, always a bit of a risc unplugging something like that.
Wow! Great Tour! Thank you! I remember reading about the Sutro Tunnel in a book is called Men to match the Mountains" by Irving Stone. It is about the opening of the far west from the Missouri River westward between 1830/40 to 1890. The EV Ore Cars @ 9:11 are very cool to see! Much appreciate the tour. Thanks
Your write up is great. We live in San Jose, ca. & my son lives in Carson,nv. We love this area & the sierras.
Love your videos, always watch for them.
BTW,In 1856 San Francisco "Joshua Hendy"founded the Iron Works to supply Gold Rush miners with equipment . The original works was destroyed by the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and he moved his iron works to sunnyvale ca,right next door to you. I just saw your post after I posted about the cars dimentions,on mine from the same comstock sutro area back in the 60s
Thank you. Glad I can show you some areas that you love...
I think what would be nice is to restore one of those ore carts to what they looked like from the factory, also restore that hit/miss engine and that diesel.
A mine train would be cool, like I remember as a kid in Park City Utah. At the Silver King Mine, in the 1960's, they had guided tour that would travel almost a mile into the mountain. We'd offload and walk into a huge stope, which was converted into a museum. As a kid, that was the coolest thing ever!
Hi Justin, such a great historical site, it must have been quite something back in the day to be on the team that was driving the tunnel forward.
Thank you for sharing, much love. xx ❤
Great I bet your biting at the bit to get back and explore this one .The day will come .⛏️🏆thank you for the tag along .
You are at one of my "Holy Grail" locations! The history of the Comstock and the Sutro Tunnel is so interesting. I'm with you, I would carefully work though the collapse and head back into the tunnel. I do hope that Friends of Sutro Tunnel are able to get the collapse passable and can open it up to visitors. There is a similar tunnel in England named the Milwr Tunnel. It is 10 miles long, connects many mines, and was used to haul ore and drain water. My friend and I went there on my last trip. I made it down 14 ladders before stopping, he went down another 5 (I believe) to get to the bottom. You may be interested in looking it up online. Lots of interesting photos. Hopefully on my next trip over there I can get down to it to see all the mines, tracks, etc. Be safe!!
I attended a pre-restoration open-house day. Wish I knew where are my negatives of photos I took then. I have mixed feelings about the restoration. But Sutro is an under-appreciated historical "giant." Only bad timing kept his tunnel from being a glorious turning-point to new riches at the same time saving miners' lives. His heritage subsequently in San Francisco is of major significance. I'm sure there are images online of the Sutro Baths to which he built a cable car line for access of the regular citizens of the City. On a European tour, he bought out whole shops full of historic books and documents, and built a special storehouse for them downtown, because he thought the damp at the coast would damage them. Thank god the old man didn't survive to 1906.
The pool is nice but when did the water get into the tunnel.
Subterranean natural spring, or mine waste runoff
@@missingremote4388 The natural water flooding the mines was the reason for the tunnel! The massive "Cornish pumps" were a famous innovation that accessed the lode to a certain depth, but they were losing the battle, and at great hazard to miners. Sutro's idea was heroic and pro-labor. See my previous post, but keep an eye out for a wonderful old book: "The Big Bonanza," the Glasscock one, there's a completely different book by the same title, you want Glasscock. There's also a regular biography.
@@daphnewilson7966 thanks for the info.
I drove thru Virginia City and down to Carson NV one time (november 2002). In my Chinook RV
Everything was closing for the night in Virginia City. So I didn't see anything. but, did stop to rest rigjt there in Virginia City
congrats on reaching 100k subs! keep up the good work and always stay safe! 😀
It’s hard to imagine sitting there thinking I should make a tunnel almost 4 miles long to get over there
Excellent. I appreciate your narration. Nice voice really easy to listen to. And you are very knowledgeable and never say anything stupid. Nice mule barn, really well preserved. Hey thank you I’m a big fan.
Always enjoy the history of these old fascinating places.
Great job. I love all old mining history.
Can't wait 'til they open it back up again.
Sure would be awesome to explore the tunnel. Not sure if that's even possible, but perhaps it could be. Good luck with that.
Nice video
It's wonderful to see you back in action,. I hope you're felling well. Coincidentally my best friend and I went on a 2 week 50 ghost town adventure in southern cal. and Nevada in 1964 and actually went to the Sutro tunnel. It was pretty much abandoned but we could here some people in one of the houses. We had a great time. I look forward to your upcoming videos while still enjoying your other videos.
Great history there indeed hello from Australia again
Well all right! TVR is in my back yard where I grew up.
The wind storms are called Washoe Zephyrs. Western Nevada has BIG wind storms due to being on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains
Sweet video
That’s Excellent video thanks for sharing
i love this, what an amazing site, so much history, but like any other ghost towns, when their is found zero ore or the ore either dries out or becomes too low grade, they ditch the town to find work elsewhere, such a different lifestyle back then
Great video. That looks like a really neat location to visit and so awesome they have a caretaker who'll be able to protect it from vandals, thieves and mother nature's destruction. Thanks Justin. Hope all is well with you.
Yeah, the caretaker is important in this new barbaric world. Even 15 years ago, I visited the Virginia City cemeteries, and there were (Forest Service? I don't remember which agency) dropping by but sad, because there had started to be so much theft. Somewhere, I probably have many photos of markers (many wood) that are gone. Is the human race devolving?
I lived there in the carriage house in 70-73. Was a great place to explore as a kid back then. Is the swimming pool still there?
If you go on a mine tour at 'walhalla' victoria/ Australia... they tell you, that on one side of the mountain a family found some of the most prolific gold/ quartz seam in Australia. ... and on the other side a different family followed the seam for 20+ years and found nothing at all. It ruined them.
There is a mine-tour in Virginia City that takes tourists down into the Comstock Lode The same ore this Sutro Tunnel aims for} in a spot that was dug-out and worked but had only a thin seam of silver that was huge on neither side of their claimed section-
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
The organization that is working on it are working hard to refurbish the property. A good friend Chris Pattison is working with the organization to help organize the restoration of the site for people to enjoy.
I’ve lived within 3 miles of this for the last 25 years. Always wanted to go get a closer look.
You find the coolest places. Thanks for sharing.
wow.great find.too much machinery outside. love watching such great video.
Bummer I thought you were going to get to go in ,if only a few feet.
in the '80's as I remember ... there was talk of Standard oil (I think) ... looking into reopening the mines ... which digging was below the levels of the Sutro tunnel by the time the Sutro tunnel reached it's mark ... We have better air conditioning technology now then back then ... the water was very hot .. work was 15 minutes on 15 minutes off in an Icehouse to cool off
Wow this is awesome 🇺🇸
As always awesome adventure you took us on! Thanks for sharing amazing stories and the history behind it! Wishing you all the best from a 1800s mining claim in CO ! 🗻🐾🐾🇺🇸⛏
Looking forward to watching this one. The portal looks almost like an anthracite coal drift. Very cool. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd buy an abandoned anthracite mine here in Penn., and get it turned into a tour. Stay safe brother!
as always another great vlog. so wish I was out seeing all this stuff first hand
Thank you for sharing this great mine !!
What a shame all those cool building was lost to fire, I spotted some familiar pieces of machinery though, including stamps. That tunnel will be luring you back soon I bet :)
I see you're Cornish, any anthracite there? I know you have tin and copper mines? The first miners in my region were Cornish miners.
Nice little video. Congrats on the big 100k! You deserve it for the years of great content you have provided...
Thank You, For the Great Footage!!! Phenomenal undertaking project. WOW to see a drone footage of the interior of it . which side bar states there is ..............
Not sure I've ever heard of it or not..but that's a cool sight! Really pretty too must be an experience living out there
This drained the yellow jacket mine among others if I remember correctly before watching lol.
Them are Fairbanks Morse the first probably a 25 hp model Y the second one probably 6hp
I love old desert mines we have checked out several in New Mexico
Very cool video.
Can you get into any of the Comstock mines? Would like to see you work up a good sweat.
Sweet... Notifications must be off never was notified about this
GREAT VIDEO, I REALLY ENJOYED IT!!! THANKS OG DANIEL SE IDAHO.
That is so sick!!!
Great looking place
Rad.. I grew up in Minden and always wanted to check this out. Definitely explored American flats before they tore it down.
That collapse looks safer than most mines I get into
It looks safer than some of the mines that TVR goes into.
If you want to see bad collapses, come to Pennsylvania coal country, lol.
@@AnthraciteHorrorStories Your channel name says it all!
@@Porty1119 hahaha, ya it does. I like your channel btw. My friend and I want to go out West to check out some hard rock mines. Nice aesthetic scenery out there!!
I wish this were closer to me, I'd be happy to donate LHD time and labor to get that tunnel mucked out!
110 k!!! congrats man keep up the hard work.
Hopefully they will open up the mine.
So beautifull
Hint, put a stocking that fits on your microphone when fiming and making an audio outside. You'll avoid the wind noise.
Oh I think I forgot to say a big thank you.
Really hope you can get in there soon. Such a beautiful place but so unfortunate that didn't strike any high grade.
Good job! Great video!
👍👊😎
Electric Vehicles: In 1890, Knoxville, TN began replacing their horse drawn streetcars with their first electric powered streetcar. 1890...! August 1, 1947 was the last run for the electric streetcars.
That was sure an impressive old time mill.from those pictures anyhow.how tragic it's gone and how fire often destroyed one's just like it.
I've only seen a few videos on CZcams where parts of some of them ancients are still intact.
Same guy who built the Sutro Bath House in San Francisco
Another cool video!!!
the mansion looks just like the one burnt down in the movie "The Homesman"
very interesting video thank you
With the word tunnel and amazing in the title maybe we should look at the tunnel
We were there in 1970 and there was a working saloon there at that time. What happened to it? The bartender was very very informative about the history of the tunnel and other goings on there.
Grew up in this amazing area. Every so often they open the area up to yours, sure hope they can get it going again for tours. Set up a channel, let Brent's Living in an abandoned ghost town channel be an example for getti.g some money for it!
Hey did you upgrade your camera gear? It all seemed really smooth, a gumball I'm assuming. Although maybe I'm just used to your inside a mine gear, which is probably different
Also, congrats on 100k! Looking forward to seeing a play button :D
FISH SWIMMING FROM UNDER THE DOCK AT 13:27
Still love you!