Yes it is Saroni. In fact the road is practically crosses a few inches from the top of the portal. I've been in this backyard several times, and there is nothing left to see. There has been a house here for about 10 years. When I went into the backyard (w/owners permission) about 5 years ago, I did see a small rusted vent stack type thing coming out of the ground, and a tiny bit of the concrete portal top, but that was it. On my last visit there about 2 years ago, the backyard had been re-landscaped, and there is absolutely no trace left.

I grew up here and still live in this area. I can remember when the trains still ran here. After the railroad was shut down the end of the tunnel was blocked off with a concrete wall. This wall was broken open and kids (including myself) went in there. The house that was built over the tunnel at the northwest corner of the intersection of Gunn Dr and Shepard Canyon was damaged when this part of the tunnel caved in. The people that were living there at the time made the contractor buy it back. The city fixed the road and the contractor fixed the house by building heavy concrete beams under it. The contractor lived in it for several years before selling it again. In the garage of this house there is a trap door that goes underneath to inspect the condition of the tunnel.

While I was a Oakland Police Officer in 1977 I was able to view the hillside from the road. With home in place you could clearly see the lay out of the covered up portal in their back yard. I also was able to find the east portal. Rumor has it sometime in the 60's some kids were able to get in chain link fence from the east side. Injuiers occured thus causing ROW owner to cover up the tunnel.

In the late 1960's I was there when a friend entered the tunnel at the west portal through a metal inspection hatch (some how removed) that was placed high up the cemented-in entrance. At the time erosion had pretty well filled in the row shown in the picture as the ground level to the bottom of the portal crossing over the original roadbed was less the 6 feet high. In other words the roadbed inside the tunnel was at least 9 feet lower then the ground level outside the tunnel! What a surprise my friend had when he dropped in. This was kind of an impromtu excursion into the tunnel as we REALLY didn't know the inspection plate was off so we didn't have anything with us but ourselves and our bikes. When we dropped rocks in they didn't sound like they fell too far. Of course though, when you're a young and dumb male adolescent a rock falling a few feet or 9 or 10 feet all sound the same! Besides, what could really happen?! Needless to say instead of going in myself it was off to home for some rope and some friends to help rescue my imprisoned friend. Funny the things you do as kids just to turn around in a few years and yell at your own kids for even thinking about it! I did finally get my chance to enter the SN tunnel at East Portal near the bottom of Pinehurst Rd in Canyon. In the mid 1970's? the area behind the cement portal caved in openning up the tunnel (and closing Pinehurst Rd). Even though there was a few feet of water backed up in the tunnel a friend and I ventured in as far as we dare go as much to say we had been in the tunnel as to see what was actually in there. Well it was pretty dark and we didn't see much, again no flashlights, so I couldn't till how far in we could have gone, who knows maybe to the west portal -but probably not I'm sure the air was pretty stale not too far in. When the county repaired the cave in they just dumped truckload after truckload of dirt into the opening until it was filled and as an extra measure of precaution they also covered over the cement portal too. Another bit of history buried but at least it's still there.

I had heard rumors that there was a metal inspection hatch in the garage of the owner of the house a block east where the roadway collapsed. Could this be the hatch you were in? Or was it RIGHT BEHIND the portal?

In March 1957 when the SN stopped coming into Oakland through the tunnel both entrances were seal with cement walls. The wall blocking entry into the tunnel at the west portal had a large 2'* 2' removable metal inspection plate secured to it about 10' above the roadbed. I don't know when it was put in but I do know from firsthand experience that it was there in the late 60's. The east portal wall had no inspection opening. There was a small opening though at the lower left corner of the wall, say about 6"*12" at grade level where a constant stream of water flowed from the inside all year long. Gee, I wonder which way the tunnel tilted?! I guess it is a standard construction practice to have a single continuous slope from one opening to the other in tunnel digging. I've heard of an inspection opening in the garage of a house across Saroni from the west portal but that's it, just heard about it, never seen it. The only opening into the tunnel BEHIND a portal that I have witnessed firsthand was the collaspe at the east portal in the mid 70's. Hope this answers your question.

Go to Google Maps and zoom all the way in on the satellite view at Gunn & Shepherd Canyon. You can clearly see the concrete section of Gunn Drive built over the tunnel.

And if you look at the plot of land just east of the concrete section there is a lot on the map. Since the map was updated, a house has been constructed here. I'm not sure I understand how they got to build right there, but they did. They dug down for a foundation and everything. Right OVER the tunnel. I wonder if that cave-in area AND further east (including that lot) had been totally filled and compacted meaning this section of the tunnel is no more.