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| Location of Eccles Tunnel (Courtesy Duncan Nanney) |
Eccles Tunnel, formally
SPC Tunnel #5 then later
Tunnel #4 and sometimes known as the
Zayante Tunnel, is a fairly well-known and easily accessed tunnel in Zayante Creek. This is partially because, of all the tunnels over the Santa Cruz Mountains, this is the only one to survive other than the Mission Tunnel in Santa Cruz City. Located north of Kenville Flag-Stop, the tunnel was originally built using redwood beams for both the supports inside and the portals around 1879 by the South Pacific Coast Railroad. It was rebuilt in 1907 after the San Francisco Earthquake and its interior and portals still retain that material, though it has been added to in recent years.
The tunnel measures a meager 240 feet, making it the shortest tunnel along the route. It is entirely concrete-lined, probably due to its length, and it measures 22 feet high and 17 feet wide. The tunnel continued in service as a railroad tunnel until the winter of 1939-1940 closed the Mountain Route permanently.
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| The Atomic Vault facility on 1 February 1957 |
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The backside of the Eccles Tunnel has seen better days,
but appears much more like a tunnel portal. |
When H.A. Christie's railroad salvage firm pulled up the tracks and dynamited the other three longer tunnels along the route, the Southern Pacific Company requested that this small tunnel be saved. For thirteen years, the SPRC maintained the tunnel as a storage unit before finally selling it to Western States Atomic Vault Company (which was later purchased by FileSafe) in 1953. Under their guidance, the tunnel was modified to serve as a storage facility able to withstand nuclear assault and was renamed the
Zayante Atomic Vault. The vault opened on 2 May 1954 and has remained in use for that purpose ever since. During the height of the Cold War, some of California's most important documents were stored in this tunnel, including the original journals of the State Legislature, the State Constitution, and microfilms of Spanish archives. Rumors also state that Walk Disney kept some of his earliest works stored in this archive.
Today, the tunnel can still be seen if walking along the old right-of-way north of Olympia or if one drives up Madrone Road past the Zayante Market. The entire area is surrounded by chain-linked fence but the overseer doesn't mind if people climb over the vault to get to the back end of the tunnel. The back end is also fenced off but appears much more like a railroad tunnel. The date, "1907," is still stamped over the high arch above the northern portal. The right-of-way then continues northward toward Meehan.
No known photographs of this tunnel during its existence as a railroad tunnel exist.
Citations:
- De Leuw, Cather & Company, "Santa Cruz-Los Gatos Rail Corridor Feasibility Study: Final Draft Report," prepared for the Joint Policy Board (December 1994).
