e) 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.
c) 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?
d) This past Sunday, April 9th, the railway’s current engineers decided to test the rumor once and for all. They weren’t disappointed.
a) “When you look from the east portal, the cutting provides a lovely V-shape,” communications manager Paul Gentleman told the Guardian.
b) While the west side’s view wasn’t quite so impressive, the engineers generously chalked that up to centuries of dirt and grime.