Building the last Main Line Railway

Catesby Tunnel and Viaduct: gcrcs122

View of one of the ventilation shafts employed to disperse the steam and smoke from Catesby tunnel. Photographed around 1897, these two navvies are dressing the ground after the shaft has been completed. The shafts were also used during the construction of the tunnel providing access to drive the bores and deliver materials and men. A quite imposing structure in its own right, this brick chimney close to the tunnel's southern portal is still standing today.

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