Tunnel on the Bermuda Railway

Even by British island colonial standards the Bermuda Railway was very short lived and a very costly railway - see earlier blips on the Barbados Railway.

It operated from one end of the archipelago of Bermuda to the other, for just 17 years, from 1931 to 1948.

It was a single track, standard-gauge line, and was very costly to build, with 10 per cent of its track elevated on bridges and trestles, much of it east of Hamilton along the coast where it was subject to rot and corrosion from the salt water. It also had this cut and cover tunnel at "Rural Hill", leading west to the section known wittily as the "Khyber Pass".

The cost at 2008 prices, is estimated as $40m, s staggering sum for 21.7 miles of single track line. It was operated by British built gasoline powered coaches, and was greatly used before the Second World War by commuters, school children and tourists alike - as private cars were not allowed in Bermuda until 1946.

It was used very heavily by US and British armed forces in the War with the enormous build up of forces on Bermuda The combination of rotting bridges and automobiles lead to its closure in 1948. the rolling stock being sold and shipped to British Guiana.

The Bermuda Government has turned most of the track bed of the old "Rattle and Shack"into a charming walking and cycling path.