What was your schooltown "steam Tunnel" urban legend?

I used to live in a town where a lot of the buildings were heated by a communal system. There were underground pipes that carried steam andor hot water from a central plant to all of the apartment blocks in the area.

Occasionally one would explode, and it's fun to tell stories about things like this.

What was the local mythlegend of your schooltown involving underground steam tunnels, or pretty much any kind of underground utility tunnel?

If you didn't have them, what about storm drains?

Was something supposed to live in them?

Did kids go into them to play Dungeons and Dragons, and never come out?

Anything, so long as it's not related to covidthe elections.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

2 actually. Ann Arbor, Mi underground steam tunnels...and Northville Psychiatric Hospital...

Look them up...

a reply to: AaarghZombies

I worked on a project one time in Detroit, Michigan where we got hired to replace about 20 miles of steam lines in the streets. The old lines had started to leak was the reason for the contract. Some of these lines were huge like 60" in diameter and they were deep too, sometimes as deep as 20' feet underground. So this was a big operation (I was with a big earthwork and underground company then). To retrofit all the huge buildings these lines served with non-steam based heating systems would have cost the city billions, so it was worth it just to upgrade the existing lines.

So we started digging up the old lines not really knowing what to expect (the segments we were excavating were shut down, we knew that much, but not much more). When we got down to the lines we started digging up wood. When they said these were "old lines", they weren't kidding! Some of these steam lines were the original lines from back in the mid-1800's, and they were all made from wood and strapped with iron like continuous wooden barrels.

It was a cool job and pretty interesting. Working in the heart of downtown Detroit wasn't real fun and we had a lot of stuff get stolen. One time someone stole a Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer. Seriously! I mean who would steal an 80 ton bulldozer which was as big as a house??? Drove it right down the middle of the street too, and no one called the cops. Tore up the pavement with the tracks and everything.

Only steam line story I've got.

When I was a kid I used to think there were fish in the storm sewers, so whenever it would rain I'd get out my fishing pole and go fishing. I don't know what the hell I was thinking!!

My hometown was rather country., still is, but it's becoming more city like. So, no underground steam tunnel type stories.

Although we do have a lot of unexplored crevices in the earth.

Nashville, has an underground tunnel system though.

Was part of the concrete crew during an excavation in DT Vancouver to build the parkade for the high rise called the Hudson in the centre of the city.

The parkade goes down some 8-9 stories under ground.

As we were digging we came upon three tunnel openings and as any 20 something degenerate would do we turned into explorers and went off into the depths.

What we found was an old mail tunnel system under the city linking most of the oldest building in town to the post office.

Upon finding them the city placed them off limits but it’s only a crime when ya get caught and we did not.

Many days after shift was over, whilst still accessible we ventured under the city. How I wish cell phone cameras were a thing then would of had some interesting content.

SaneThinking

originally posted by: AutomateThis1
My hometown was rather country., still is, but it's becoming more city like. So, no underground steam tunnel type stories.

Although we do have a lot of unexplored crevices in the earth.

Nashville, has an underground tunnel system though.

Was anything living in them?

Serial killers, mole people, nerds?

originally posted by: AaarghZombies

originally posted by: AutomateThis1
My hometown was rather country., still is, but it's becoming more city like. So, no underground steam tunnel type stories.

Although we do have a lot of unexplored crevices in the earth.

Nashville, has an underground tunnel system though.

Was anything living in them?

Serial killers, mole people, nerds?

As far as the crevices go, I don't know. I've only gone down a handful. Some go pretty deep. We threw a glow stick down one once and it went so far down we couldn't see the glow anymore. We threw a rock down it and we didn't hear it hit the bottom either.

As far as the tunnels go in Nashville, there are still sections that are used, and some sections that were closed off. My buddies and I almost got caught a few times poking around.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Dude, you just sent a chill down my spine!!! A serious chill!!

It's kind of off-topic for this thread, but it involves an old abandoned psychiatric hospital and a totally creepy and totally bizarre incident I witnessed one time. It wasn't far from there either, not very far at all. I'm not 100% sure it wasn't the same place even. Positively the freakiest thing I ever witnessed! I'm not even sure it was real, it was that bizarre! It was real though because I witnessed it with my own eyes.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

Oh, I forgot about one story I have. It's not about a steam line or a storm sewer though, but it is about a tunnel we found once.

As a kid growing up in Wyoming we had this old abandoned plant on the edge of town. I'm pretty sure it was an old power plant, but it had been abandoned ever since I was aware of it. One day me and a couple friends decided to do some urban exploring inside. When we got inside the plant was mostly empty, just this giant building with nothing in it.

In the middle of the floor there was this large rectangular opening which turned out to be a stairway down to a lower underground level. We'd been in the building a couple times, but no one was brave enough to go down the stairs to the lower level. There were several reasons why. For one thing the stairway was very long and made out of concrete with no handrailings on it, just the stairs that's it. We couldn't tell if the stairway was safe, and it was a LONG way down too, like 40 feet or more! The other reason we were skeered was it was dark as the inside of a cow down there. It was so dark you couldn't even really see the bottom of the stairs, and we had no idea what was down there.

One day we came back with some good flashlights and the sole intention of checking out the lower level of this plant. One at a time we went down the stairs. Probably should have used ropes for safety, but we were young and dumb. The stairway held. The space in the basement was not empty like the floor above. It was full of all this giant iron machinery. Had no idea what any of it did. I imagine they left it because it was just too big and difficult to remove. An iron scrap guy would have been in heaven seeing all of this. So we explored all around on this lower level and that was really cool.

At one point we came to this giant circular opening in the exterior concrete foundation wall about 4 feet off the floor. The circular opening was about 10' feet in diameter. We looked inside of it and it looked like this really long tunnel. Couldn't see the end of it. We managed to get inside the tunnel and started walking down inside it. It was smooth concrete almost like a giant drainage pipe, but it couldn't be that because who would ever drain water into their machine room?

We walked down this tunnel so far we couldn't see the entrance any longer. It was empty. It was pretty creepy too. We never knew if some critter was going to come racing out of the darkness at any second. We went as far as we dared to go and found nothing, just an empty dark concrete tunnel seemingly to nowhere. It was pretty spooky.

For years I asked all the old timers around town what that tunnel was and no one knew about it. While I was away at college they tore the old plant down and blasted the tunnel closed. To this day I have no idea what the purpose of the tunnel was, or where it went.

Ours was rather tame.

It was that the president of the uni would declare a snow day when he could not get himself to work, but of course, the steam tunnels linked his residence to the building with his office, so he just had to casually stroll over to work using them. So there was never any chance of a snow day.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

In the school yard, a neighbouring home had their shed facing the field.
Over the years the urban legend developed that Bloody Mary lived in there haha.

There was also the legend of a local pedophile that lurked the forest walking trails.
We called him Jacko-wacko.
Apparently he drove a black Jeep - through dense forest mind you, and would invite little kids in for a ride.
All the parents knew about him.
The police heard about him.

This was no freelance pedo either.
This dude was a member of the union - a registered offender.
A real hitter.

Give a cheer, give a cheer
for the boys who brew the beer
in the cellar of Jefferson High

they are brave, they are bold
and the beer the make is cold
in the cellar of Jefferson High

and its guzzle, guzzle, guzzle as it goes down in your muzzle
shout out your order loud and clear--"More Beer!"
and when Merko comes around, we'll pour another round
in the cellar of Jefferson High

(Merko was nickname of the principal)

Clay Disk, sounds like some kind of in-house generator
reminds me of the early scene in Sky Captain when the robots dig one up under the city

We had a creepy old house, abandoned. Built around 1800 or so. Old barn. Different groups of kids built dwellings there, to get away from their parents and have a cool place to chill. It had chestnut trees around it and a cellar.

That cellar was frequently used as a test of courage / dare. It was dark and the room design was chaotic. You would get down the curved stairs and find yourself in a huge room, you would see three doors in the dark. One door was locked, we never got in there, it was the left door.

Depending on the time of the year, the cellar was flooded a good foot high with water. The water would reflect the candles and drops on the walls and ceiling would reflect the light, too.

The right door led only to a small chamber, but the middle door would expand left and right behind the two other doors, like a T. Old baskets, chairs and a table were down there. There was a chandelier at the ceiling that spooked a lot of us the first time we went down there. Because it looked like two eyes in the dark glowing, when the candles light reflected the second you would turn around the corner. It was spaced so far apart that we always scared the smaller ones (was done to us too, handed down) there was a monster eating fearful kids.

Oh and that there is a tunnel going to the nearest castle filled with skeletons but that tunnel, we never found it.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

I grew up in Maine.

The only thing in the tunnels was a clown with sharp teeth.



WE ALL FLOAT DOWN HERE!

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: mysterioustranger

Dude, you just sent a chill down my spine!!! A serious chill!!

It's kind of off-topic for this thread, but it involves an old abandoned psychiatric hospital and a totally creepy and totally bizarre incident I witnessed one time. It wasn't far from there either, not very far at all. I'm not 100% sure it wasn't the same place even. Positively the freakiest thing I ever witnessed! I'm not even sure it was real, it was that bizarre! It was real though because I witnessed it with my own eyes.

I wanna hear...

My college bought an old Jesuit college. There were rumors of tunnels and catacombs underneath the main building, but I was too scared to ask if it was true or urban legend. And I probably would have been lied to, anyway. Haha.

a reply to: slatesteam

Me too!

a reply to: AaarghZombies

Not a steam tunnel but a steam train tunnel.
When we were kids we had all heard about the abandoned train tunnel nearby. Everyone knew "someone who had walked through it" but none of us actually had. Cue one summer day and bored off school a few of us decided to take a look for ourselves. We chose the far end to start, climbed over the rubbish thrown over the fence behind the local council depot and headed in.
The tracks had long disappeared under a layer of sludge and god knows what else so we walked single file along a large pipe that ran along the one side.
Spooky place, stalactites looming put of the dark, constant dripping noises everywhere. Took a break at the half way point under the huge chimney for some fresh air and sunlight then headed on. As we neared the exit and the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel grew larger we noticed what looked like a coffin in the middle of the submerged tracks with the lid half off. Somehow I was volunteered to take a look and thankfully it was empty.
We chuckled about how it could have been worse and indeed, who the heck carries a coffin through thick woods and a mile from the nearest road.
Recounting the story years later after a similar conversation to this thread a friend piped up that her Boyfriend had made a rock music video there and thought leaving behind the coffin would be good to wind people up. That find lasted 20 years until explained.
I was kind of glad that there was no nefarious activity involved but quietly wished there was a darker explanation.

No steam tunnels but a few abandoned haunted farm houses.

We would go at night an venture through them. Exhilarating and fun. Scary as hell.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

There are tunnels for people and steam between the major and some of the minor buildings of the medical center, in Indianapolis. We used to transport patients sometimes on carts between hospitals using them, and also to move around between different hospitals in bad weather.

There were marks painted on the floor to tell you which way to go - a helpful feature, because there were sometimes gated-off areas, and dead ends, and some of the side tunnels were un-lit. Overall, it was a neat place to go, but it was spooky, as I heard tales of homeless people and criminals using the tunnels to hide out. Also, I heard that the tunnels were haunted, especially under the old Central State psychiatric hospital, but that was far to the west of the medical center, and nobody I actually met had ever taken a tunnel that far away from the main medical center area. I think that was probably just a made-up story, but who knows?