They're all crawling around that castle like mad.
The fact that the germans dug tunnels under the castle isn't that new. The castle was conceived to become residence and command centre for high military authorities of Wehrmacht and SS, probably administrating the Riese complex, or like others say, as an alternative headquarter for Adolf Hitler. A command center like this would be backed up with an air-raid-shelter, including a war room, telephone switchboards, quarters, kitchens and storage rooms for all kinds of precious goods. Thus the germans dug 2 kilometers of tunnels below the castle.
Wikipedia says that the germans planned to dig a railway line leading under the castle directly linking to the tunnel system, but never implemented it. But somehow nowadays everybody is speaking about the tunnel that led under the castle, as the topography and vegetation reveals the entrance pretty well.
Actually I cannot imagine that the germans were that stupid to plan a railway line leading directly into a headquarter, only waiting for some 'Inglorious Basterds' to roll in there guns blazing.
But I can imagine that the germans had a hard time bringing out the rubble when digging 2 kilometers of tunnels. If you think big like Nazis did, you don't make 1200 slave labour workers bring up the rubble via the staircase. You rather make them dig a tunnel leading outside. Think big! You connect the tunnels with the railway line at kilometer 65, using the so called 'secret switch' which probably wasn't that secret but rather temporary in existance. After you're done, you fill up the entrance with rubble again.
Picture of a random tunnel near Wałbrzych.
Now, the tunnels below the castle are about 50 meters under the ground, accordingly to an unfinished elevator installation. But some sources say, that the train is in a depth of 70 meters. Considering the slope between the proposed tunnel entrance at the foot of the hill and the castle on top, there is now way the gold train could be hidden in the section between the railway tunnel entrance and the tunnel system under the castle while being at a depth of 70 meters.
Which brings me closer to the conclusion that the whole kilomter 65 story has been made up to lurk the tourists and the press to the castle where souvenir traders make a buck with all sorts of militaria and stuff related to the nazi history of the castle.
Meanwhile some sources report the train to be only 90 meters long.
And the
Daily Mail brings a up a heart breaking story: the man who knows the man who did the confession.*fanfare*
This story got everything: hard to swallow, too long to read, armed neo fascists and false evidence, like that family picture of people supposedly murdered by the Nazis at the end of the war when standing next to a 1952 Skoda. Funny sidenote: in this story the death-confessor did only see a tunnel entrance, but no gold train.
But it brings up a location (among others), that is reported by the
Daily Telegraph as well: Kilometer 61. The Telegraph reports on top that the embankment next to kilometer 61 is the spot, where a fire broke out last night. So, this spot seems to be popular and hot among polish treasure hunters for many years.
I'm kinda glad
W-wa Jeziorki gets to the same results in his blog, thus I can present you his picture:
If you look at the heightmap, you'll find a almost straight strip on an embankment with a length about 300 meters that is at a height of 390 meters while the railway line is at 320 meters.
A sealed tunnel here would make a train being burried 70 meters deep, indeed. And if you drill through to the other side, you'd achieve a straightening of the railway line, allowing for a higher speed on the section. Some of those OT architects where actually clever guys, don't underestimate.
The variant #2 proposed yesterday seems unlikely now. The hill above the tunnel got a strong slope. Its more than 200 meters above the level of the tunnel. Hard to work here with a radar, ain't it? At least it can't be 70 meters deep then.
But maybe this 3rd location is only derived from another urban legend and turns out to be a fake as well. We'll see. Tomorrow.