From my vantage point on the 3rd floor of the Star Brewery Building, I was able to take another fun little video. This time we’ve got a train arriving to Dubuque from the East Dubuque, Illinois side of the Mississippi River. I’ve been seeing about 6 to 8 crossings per day, probably most being agricultural products going to or from the western half of Dubuque County. I’m sure Big River United Energy out of Dyersville accounts for a lot of this traffic from their daily ethanol production.
In total it took a little more than nine minutes for the whole train to emerge from the East Dubuque train tunnel and cross over into the Land of Corn (Iowa). I time-lapsed the middle section of the train to get us down to just over two minutes in length.
Watch it and count the cars (engines included!)…the first person who correctly e-mails the count to rob@riverbankstocornfields.com will receive a Hy-Vee gift card for their efforts…
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
how long is the tunnel in east dubuque—-we were taking visitors on a boat ride and got to see the train emerge from the tunnel and pass over the bridge. the little boys were thrilled. I haven’t been able to find the answer to my question thanks if you can answer
I’m not entirely sure how long the tunnel is, I’d estimate it’s maybe all of about 1/4 mile in length. I grew up in East Dubuque, in fact in the neighborhood literally right above the train tunnel. When a train rumbles through the tunnel you can feel faint vibrations coming through the ground.
Of course as an “adventurous” kid back in the day, me and my friends used to walk through the tunnel. The middle section of the tunnel would be pitch black and we’d have to feel our way along the tracks until we could see light from the other side of the tunnel. Luckily we young fellas never were in there when a train was actually coming though – there isn’t a whole lot of space between the walls and where the tracks are.