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Box Tunnel at Sunrise
David Needham 23 April 2018 Following your article from Patricia Coles and follow-up discussion, may I add my recent posts to GWR passenger forum.[1] The sun will not shine through the IKB’s Box tunnel, not on the 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 April or the September equivalent, not at the moment anyway. Several things conspire to stop this from happening. The 6.00am train from Bristol fills the tunnel with diesel fumes before sunrise, recent electrification might soon resolve this first problem. The south embankment does cover a portion of the tunnel’s eastern portal, when viewed from the western side, it obstructs from the bottom left corner diagonally up at about 45° to the point where the roof curve meets the top of the right hand tunnel wall. |
Light appearing through the tunnel, 9 April 1982 (courtesy David Needham)
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At the moment there is also very tall shrubs and trees on this embankment which blocks the rest of the tunnel’s alignment out completely.
So recent investigations by the GWR engineers in 2017 was always going to fail to prove this so called “myth” really works.
The next problem is the English morning weather, how many April days have zero cloud or mist between Bath and Reading at 06.30 am ? I took a picture on the 9 April 1982 of the sun shining down the tunnel or at least as good as it ever will on the 9 April. This photo was used in the New Civil Engineers investigation 4 April 1985 p. 29 - 31.
Why did I get a picture of the sun illuminating the tunnel brightly and the the reflection bouncing off all four rails, here is the reasons… Recently before 1982 (don’t know the exact year) the eastern south embankment was cleared of all shrubbery and trees. 1982 was a Bank Holiday so there was no 06.00 am train out of Bristol, the best image was taken at about 06.44 am, in those days you were limited to 24 colour shots using a Practica SLR 35 camera. It was the clearest night I ever saw when driving to Box, which I did from 1977 until 1985. After which I realised I would never see the sun shine through it again so stopped visiting the area. Also it was different times when it comes to safety, annually up to 20 people would be on the tracks with genuine interest and so would GWR staff assisting us and allowing us to be there, after 1983 the rail staff were only there to keep us out of railway property.
By the way, only me and a guy from Birmingham driving a 2CV were there on the 9 April in 1982. I do believe that a better date is the 6 or 7 April (which all mathematical calculations confirm) and why I think this is, there is a picture taken by Jim Barnes in 1985 a year where the shrubbery was still low on the east south embankment allowing you to see what is clearly the sun within the Eastern portal. If the 6.00 am train from Bristol had not filled the tunnel with fumes 10 minutes before he took that picture that would be the most stunning proof and I doubt if you would have been able to look up the tunnel at the sun with the naked eye without hurting your eyes. That sun is penetrating through 2 miles of confined diesel fumes.
So don’t rush off trying to see this phenomenon, not until the trees are cleared, 100% of trains are electric using the line or it has to be a Bank Holiday, you need one of the best clear nights prior to “the 6 or 7 April” and permission from Network Rail or GWR, and a key to the Western access gate. Sorry to disappoint you all and unless you are very very young now you have no chance of seeing IKB’s genius creation as intended, they will cut the trees again but not until they are big and old enough to cause a danger to the trains.
This also adds detail to why the New Civil Engineer photo which I took was not perfect. It is today clear to me that the sun was close but not perfectly aligned on the 9 April, it was just a very clear a day and a clean tunnel which makes my photograph definitely the best April the 9th picture and probably as good a picture as has ever been taken from the western end of the sun at the eastern end.
Please do not trespass on the railway line. Follow David Needham's advice on what will be a fruitless endeavour. There is however a safe viewing point on the A4 road which allows a splendid view of the tunnel.
With David's comments, we are going to bring the discussion to a close. Many thanks to all contributors.
So recent investigations by the GWR engineers in 2017 was always going to fail to prove this so called “myth” really works.
The next problem is the English morning weather, how many April days have zero cloud or mist between Bath and Reading at 06.30 am ? I took a picture on the 9 April 1982 of the sun shining down the tunnel or at least as good as it ever will on the 9 April. This photo was used in the New Civil Engineers investigation 4 April 1985 p. 29 - 31.
Why did I get a picture of the sun illuminating the tunnel brightly and the the reflection bouncing off all four rails, here is the reasons… Recently before 1982 (don’t know the exact year) the eastern south embankment was cleared of all shrubbery and trees. 1982 was a Bank Holiday so there was no 06.00 am train out of Bristol, the best image was taken at about 06.44 am, in those days you were limited to 24 colour shots using a Practica SLR 35 camera. It was the clearest night I ever saw when driving to Box, which I did from 1977 until 1985. After which I realised I would never see the sun shine through it again so stopped visiting the area. Also it was different times when it comes to safety, annually up to 20 people would be on the tracks with genuine interest and so would GWR staff assisting us and allowing us to be there, after 1983 the rail staff were only there to keep us out of railway property.
By the way, only me and a guy from Birmingham driving a 2CV were there on the 9 April in 1982. I do believe that a better date is the 6 or 7 April (which all mathematical calculations confirm) and why I think this is, there is a picture taken by Jim Barnes in 1985 a year where the shrubbery was still low on the east south embankment allowing you to see what is clearly the sun within the Eastern portal. If the 6.00 am train from Bristol had not filled the tunnel with fumes 10 minutes before he took that picture that would be the most stunning proof and I doubt if you would have been able to look up the tunnel at the sun with the naked eye without hurting your eyes. That sun is penetrating through 2 miles of confined diesel fumes.
So don’t rush off trying to see this phenomenon, not until the trees are cleared, 100% of trains are electric using the line or it has to be a Bank Holiday, you need one of the best clear nights prior to “the 6 or 7 April” and permission from Network Rail or GWR, and a key to the Western access gate. Sorry to disappoint you all and unless you are very very young now you have no chance of seeing IKB’s genius creation as intended, they will cut the trees again but not until they are big and old enough to cause a danger to the trains.
This also adds detail to why the New Civil Engineer photo which I took was not perfect. It is today clear to me that the sun was close but not perfectly aligned on the 9 April, it was just a very clear a day and a clean tunnel which makes my photograph definitely the best April the 9th picture and probably as good a picture as has ever been taken from the western end of the sun at the eastern end.
Please do not trespass on the railway line. Follow David Needham's advice on what will be a fruitless endeavour. There is however a safe viewing point on the A4 road which allows a splendid view of the tunnel.
With David's comments, we are going to bring the discussion to a close. Many thanks to all contributors.