"The Battle of the Tunnel" was a feud between railroads over the new rails between Albany and Binghamton. The Erie, ran by Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, thought it would be good to control it for their coal, so they could easily deliver it to New England, and the Delaware & Hudson, ran by Mr. Ramsey. The Delaware & Hudson started out as Albany & Susquehanna. This was a political as well as physical fight.
On August 10, 1869, both railroads sent trains, one from Albany and the other from Binghamton, they both met at the tunnel in Tunnel, NY. The trains hit head on, at the other side of the tunnel, it left the Albany engine smoking at the side of the roadbed, while the Binghamton train stayed on the rails, missing the headlight and with it's cowcatcher damaged. The men carried a variety of weapons, clubs, shovels and axes, however, there were no casualties. There also was lots of shouting and rock throwing, despite a 2-1 advantage by Erie from Binghamton, was whipped and fell back thru the tunnel. The State Militia was called in to stop the fighting.
This was not the end of the struggle for power; it went to court where Mr. Ramsey finally won.
