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Parepin
   
location:
Western New York
Gender: Male
MK is your new god. When will you admit it?
 |  |  |  | Tunnel Myth
< on 5/3/2004 5:22 AM >
|  | | | Alright, heres the story. In the town that I used to live in, there were always stories going around of a vast tunnel system under the streets. Presumably it's the old sewer system.
Now, this town is small, it's a farming town, but it is very old and has a lot of history, located right by Lake Ontario in New York.
I know of a large building that I assume was, at one point, for water treatment. It has four large chambers accessible from the roof. It also has a small hallway inside that you walk to the end of, drop down a manhole, acrossed a pipe, and through a dissasembled pipe into another large room. I have not been in the room, itself, however.
Now, here's my question, how can I determine the truth behind the story? I have talked to a few people, some saying that the tunnels stem from this building, others saying that the room underground is sealed, with no other enterence.
I am well aware of the fact that every town has these rumors going about, but this town is different. It has many factors (such as witnesses) that make me beleive it.
The problems: This town, I doubt, has sewage maps or plans that go back that far, and even less of a chance that I could get my hands on it. The storm drains are nowhere near large enough to get into, so they do not allow for enterence. Man holes are the only enterences that I can think of, though it'll be hard to open one right in the center of a street.
I guess all I'm looking for here is some opinions. Anything will be welcome.
<reuben> somebody keeps jiggling the doorknob on my front door, then running away
<reuben> i don't know if i should call the police, or hook up some electricity to the doorknob
<cristobal> why don't you put ice on the stairs <cristobal> and heat up the door knob <cristobal> and swing paint buckets down from your two story foyer <cristobal> then a few years later, fade from the public eye..... |
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Capone
location:
London, Ontario
Gender: Male
UEL
| | | Re: Tunnel Myth
<Reply # 1 on 5/3/2004 6:09 AM >
|  | | | As for verifying the truth, there's a few ways to do it other than just going and physically searching the building and etc yourself.
Go to your local historical society. They may have old sewer/drain maps of the city, or some other type of information. Also try looking up information about the building itself.
You can also try City Hall, as far as I know they (or City Records, or whoever else they can put you in touch with) keep maps of all drains, tunnels, pipes, and sewers that run beneath the city. To the best of my knowledge these are in the public domain, but they will more than likely want to know why you need them.
So there I was, in this creepy old hallway... |
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DarkTreader
Gender: Male
| | Re: Tunnel Myth
<Reply # 2 on 5/3/2004 11:15 AM >
| | | | If they ask you, just say you're doing a report or something - you've heard about these rumored tunnels all of your life or whatnot, and you're using it as a project in (insert appropriate class here). For most intents and purposes, the 'school report' excuse works well.
Losers go home... winners go home and fuck the prom queen |
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Tubro
location:
RSVL, Ar
Gender: Male
| | Re: Tunnel Myth
<Reply # 3 on 5/3/2004 10:31 PM >
| | | | Hit the basements of all the oldest buildings in town. The public was very proud of such works back then, and alot of people had entrances and ways to dump refuse as such in them. If the town is small, then it would be a major accomplishment to have them, and it would have to be well documented in historical records. Most local libraries will research and compile all this info for a small fee, like 10 bucks or so.
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Parepin
location:
Western New York
Gender: Male
MK is your new god. When will you admit it?
| | | | Re: Tunnel Myth
<Reply # 4 on 5/4/2004 12:45 AM >
| | | | This town IS small, but because of the history of the place and the people around here, it had ALOT of money for modernization. I don't wanna give up too much, don't wanna give away locations. As of now there are only about seven thousand, which isn't much compared to the fact that the town has a ton of countryside in which most of the town resides. But the tunnels are only in the downtown area. I dunno about the library and historical society, but I'll look into it. I don't know, really, what good a map of it will do me, but it's more than I have now.
<reuben> somebody keeps jiggling the doorknob on my front door, then running away
<reuben> i don't know if i should call the police, or hook up some electricity to the doorknob
<cristobal> why don't you put ice on the stairs <cristobal> and heat up the door knob <cristobal> and swing paint buckets down from your two story foyer <cristobal> then a few years later, fade from the public eye..... |
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Freak
 
location:
Usually Alaska, now MSP.
Gender: Male
Hypocrite
| | | Re: Tunnel Myth
<Reply # 5 on 5/4/2004 3:03 AM >
| | | | Research and ask around, but keep in mind that you might get a lot of bad or disinformation. I've been researching some tunnels around here, and a lot of people have heard of them, but they'll tell me stuff like "oh those were just little pipes under the street, I don't think they went anywhere". It's really hard to separate the truth from the myths and poorly remembered rumors.
There's a little farming town I visited that had all kinds of crazy tunnel rumors (mostly about satanists performing rituals underground). I figured most of it was bullshit until I actually did some scouting and found an entrance, but the town sealed it a few days later (maybe because I was asking around about the history of the tunnels), so I never got a chance to explore. It turned out the tunnels were from a 1920's dairy which had centralized steam heat, so if your town had anything like that then tunnels are certainly a possiblility.
Turn off the internet and go play outside.
http://spamusement...hp/comics/view/137 |
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MacGyver
location:
St Paul, Minnesota
Gender: Male
"Someone go find me a paperclip, a D-cell battery, and a cheese grater"
| | Re: Tunnel Myth
<Reply # 6 on 5/4/2004 5:13 AM >
| | | | Just about every town or city has the rumor of tunnels "stretching beneath the whole city". I know of only one such place where it is indeed not a myth, but this is due to several very lucky circumstances lining up.
What is our town built on? If you're sitting right on top of sandstone, there's a good chance there are lots of tunnels in it. If it's dirt or other loose material, you're not going to find much because tunneling in such material requires digging trenches, laying concrete prefab tunnel, and burying it. In sandstone, tunnels can be literally mined out of bare rock quickly and easily using grub axes, shovels, and wheel barrows. These tunnels will be there pretty much forever, too. In cut-and-cover tunneling, old tunnels can be filled in easily by collapsing the ground above them and filling in the resulting ditch with more soil. Bedrock tunnels tend to remain intact and forgotten forever, offering some of the best and most exciting exploration possibilities there are, depending on the complexity and expansiveness of said tunnels.
Like a fiend with his dope / a drunkard his wine / a man will have lust for the lure of the mine
"If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent." |
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Ferret
location:
Toronto
| | Re: Tunnel Myth
<Reply # 7 on 5/4/2004 6:02 AM >
| | | | Read up onn your industrial history. In a few places in upper western NY, compressed air was used to power machinery during the transition between water power and electrical, and in a couple of places, thoose pipes are sttill in place and about as large as a sewer.
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Macsbug
Noble Donor
location:
St. Paul, MN
Gender: Male
Safety First!
| | | Re: Tunnel Myth
<Reply # 8 on 5/4/2004 1:33 PM >
| | | | Depending on where you are, instead of getting water power directly off the river, there could be tunnels to bring the water to the mills or factories, and then back to the river - headraces and tailraces.
"Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it." |
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Parepin
location:
Western New York
Gender: Male
MK is your new god. When will you admit it?
| | | | Re: Tunnel Myth
<Reply # 9 on 5/5/2004 2:00 AM >
| | | | Well, I looked around some. Didn't have much time. The town water works, which is where I think I found an enterence (the bulding on the hill) is on a map from 1908, so it's been there awhile. But, when asking at the town hall at the drain department (whatever it's called), I was told that sewers were not installed until the 1960's. What exactly does a water works do? Is it town plumbing and water, draining, or sanitation? I did get a few numbers, and I knew someone awhile back that worked there. I'll hafta keep lookin.
<reuben> somebody keeps jiggling the doorknob on my front door, then running away
<reuben> i don't know if i should call the police, or hook up some electricity to the doorknob
<cristobal> why don't you put ice on the stairs <cristobal> and heat up the door knob <cristobal> and swing paint buckets down from your two story foyer <cristobal> then a few years later, fade from the public eye..... |
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Capone
location:
London, Ontario
Gender: Male
UEL
| | | Re: Tunnel Myth
<Reply # 10 on 5/5/2004 2:47 AM >
| | | | From dictionary.com:
a. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The water system, including reservoirs, tanks, buildings, pumps, and pipes, that supplies water to a city, town, or other municipality.
b. (used with a sing. verb) A single unit, such as a pumping station, within such a system.
So there I was, in this creepy old hallway... |
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