36 places, 23 states LAUNCH PROMO ENDS IN Seen the legal way
You may be driving over a tragedy every day and never know it

America buried its mistakes. I dug up 36 of them.

(Where America Buried Its Mistakes)
The true stories behind sealed tunnels, fallen bridges, dead highways and vanished towns, and where you can still see them, legally and safely.
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Where America Buried Its Mistakes by Earl Whitcomb
Get My Copy NowInstant PDF, then the EPUB and printable pack by email · $37 today · 7-day money-back guarantee, and you keep the book See what's inside first ▼

How it works

1
You pay
Through Stripe, the same checkout the big stores use. I never see your card number.
2
The book opens
The PDF, on the very next screen, a few seconds later. Phone, tablet or computer.
3
The rest comes by email
The EPUB, the printable pack and the same download link go to your inbox, so you can open it again at the trailhead.

Nothing ships, there is no account to make, and no password to remember.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Thirty-six places for $37. About a dollar a story.
By the end of the Quick Start, you’ll know how to check any place in about five minutes.
Get the book · $37

Look inside

Real pages from the real book. This is exactly what opens on your phone, set in big, clear type, with old photographs and illustrations along the way.

Page 13 of the book: the Quick Start, is it open right now and is it safe for you todayTAP TO ENLARGE
Page 13: the Quick Start. Is it open right now, and is it safe for you today? Two of the five questions to run before any visit.
Page 32 of the book: Centralia, the town that's still burningTAP TO ENLARGE
Page 32: Centralia, the town that’s still burning. Every place starts with its story, told from the records.
Page 43 of the book: the east portal of the Hoosac Tunnel around 1908TAP TO ENLARGE
Page 43: Chapter 2 opens at the east portal of the Hoosac Tunnel, in a photograph from around 1908.
Page 42 of the book: the Site Card for Centralia and the buried Route 61TAP TO ENLARGE
Page 42: the Site Card for Centralia. The story in two lines, what’s left, how to get in legally, what to look for, and when not to go.

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What's Inside

Eighteen chapters, from Pennsylvania to the Florida Keys, two places in each. Every chapter ends with a Site Card for each place: the story in two lines, what’s left, how to get in legally, what to look for, and when not to go.

And that is a fraction of it. Every chapter ends with a Site Card for each place.

570pages
36places
23states
36Site Cards

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Instant download, on your phone a few seconds after you pay. Nothing ships.

Where America Buried Its Mistakes
(2026–2027 Edition)
Where America Buried Its Mistakes
36 sealed tunnels, fallen bridges, dead highways and vanished towns
  • 570 pages, 18 chapters, 36 places in 23 states, a Site Card for every place, the Quick Start and When NOT to Go, plus 4 appendices: how to check a place before you go, the sites by state, sources and photo credits, and a legal and safety notice
  • Instant download: the PDF on your phone a few seconds after you pay, and the EPUB in your inbox
  • The 23-page printable pack, by email: all 36 Site Cards, the Five-Minute Check and a Visit Log for the places you see, on US Letter
  • Free updates for life, every new edition by email
  • 7-day money-back guarantee, and you keep the book
$37LAUNCH PRICE
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🔒 Secure checkout by StripeOne payment, no subscriptionSeven days, my word on it: money back and you keep the book
Earl Whitcomb
Earl Whitcomb, retired locomotive engineer
A note from the author

“I wrote this so the next time you pass one of these places, you know what happened there.”

My name is Earl Whitcomb. I spent forty years on the railroad. I hired on at nineteen as a brakeman, worked my way up to conductor, and ran freight as a locomotive engineer for thirty of those years, most of it in mountain country, through tunnels and up grades.

From the cab, you see these places go by. The old grade in the trees. The portal nobody uses anymore. A stone arch in the hillside with no track running into it. I always wanted to know what happened there, and since I retired, I’ve had the time to go back and ask.

Most of these stories aren’t written down anywhere a traveler would think to look. They live in old reports, county records and railroad files, and in legends that get them half wrong. I dug into the records, one place at a time, and wrote down what was built, what went wrong, and what you can still see today, legally and safely.

This book isn’t a guide to getting past fences, and the places where people died aren’t attractions. It’s about standing at the right spot, on the public side, and knowing what you’re looking at.

Earl Whitcomb

Questions, Answered Honestly

Is this a printed book you mail me?
No, and I want you to know that before you spend a dollar. It is a digital book: a PDF that opens on your phone, your tablet or your computer the moment you pay, an EPUB, and a printable pack on US Letter paper that come to your email. Nothing arrives in the mail. Print any page you like and keep it in the glovebox.
I’m not a railroad buff. Is this too much for me?
It’s written for exactly you. No jargon you can’t follow, and nothing you need to know before you start. You get the story, what’s left today, and how to see it legally. Every chapter ends with a Site Card for each place that you can read in a minute at the trailhead.
I don’t travel much. Does it still help?
Yes. This is a book of stories first, and every one reads just as well from your armchair. If you do take a trip, Appendix B lists every place by state, and the Site Cards are the pages to take with you.
Will it tell me how to get into closed places?
No, and it never will. Almost every place in the book can be seen legally at the time of writing, from a trail, a park, a public road or a viewpoint. The very few that can’t are said plainly on their Site Cards. Railroad property is private property, and the tracks are never a trail. Rules change, so the Quick Start shows you how to check any place before you go.
I’m not in the US. Does it still work?
All 36 places are in the United States. The stories read the same from anywhere, and the notes on visiting are written for travelers in the US.
Is this legal or safety advice?
No. It’s for general educational purposes. It tells you what happened at each place and where the official information lives. Before any visit, the manager of the place, on its own website, is the one whose word counts.
Is this a subscription? Will you charge my card again?
No. One payment, one time. No membership, no monthly anything, no free trial that turns into a bill. And every new edition comes to your email free, for life.
What if I lose the file?
Your download link lives in your email, so that’s the thing to keep. If you can’t find it, write to me here with the email you bought with (or your receipt), and I’ll send it again.
What if I don’t like it?
Write to me within seven days at support@earlguide.com, or through the form below, and I’ll give you your money back. You keep the book. I’d rather lose the sale than have you feel let down.

Questions before you buy?

Write to me here and I’ll answer. Every message comes straight to me.

Ready when you are

The PDF opens on your phone a few seconds after you pay, and the EPUB and the printable pack are waiting in your inbox. Nothing ships.

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Where America Buried Its Mistakes$37 · instant download
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