Rimutaka Tunnel The first shot was fired in 1948 when the Public Works Department started the tunnel with bores of at the western end and at the eastern end. A contract for completing the tunnel was let to a consortium of Morrison Knudsen Inc. and Downer and Company on 7 May 1951. The work commenced at the west end in July 1951 and at the east end in August. The contract was expected to be completed in four years, but the headings met on 20 April 1954 with the concrete lining finished a month later. New Zealand Railways took possession of the
Quitaque Railway Tunnel feet below its ridge of about 2,800 elevation. The tunnel was originally long. After a train wreck in the tunnel in 1973, the line was closed for eighteen months while the tunnel was shortened to its current length, and the rails were upgraded to handle heavier traffic. As of 1976, it was one of very few railway tunnels still in use in Texas. The line was abandoned in 1989. In 1993, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department acquired the abandoned right-of-way, and the tunnel is now part of Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway. Quitaque Railway Tunnel The Quitaque Railway