Railway Engineers in England Just Solved a Sunny, 175-Year-Old Mystery APRIL 12, 2017
EVER SINCE THE COMPLETION OF the Great Western Railway, in the 1840s, intrigue has swirled around the Box Tunnel, a long, steep bypass near Bath, England. Unlike many tunnel rumors, these were sweet rather than sordid. The question was this: did the railway’s creator, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, really have the tunnel carved in such a way that when the sun rose on his birthday—April 9th—it would be flooded with light?
This past Sunday, April 9th, 2017, the railway’s current engineers decided to test the rumor once and for all...
The sun shines through the Box Tunnel on April 9th, 2017.
...They weren’t disappointed.
“When you look from the east portal, the cutting provides a lovely V-shape,” communications manager Paul Gentleman told the Guardian. “The sun rose from the left and was shining directly down the tunnel. We couldn’t see how far.”