 By this time , the tunnel had come to be known as the " Brooksville Tunnel , " after a small stagecoach stop and inn nearby where Crozet 's headquarters was located ; in later years , the " s " was dropped and the tunnel was simply referred to as the " Brookville Tunnel . " In late summer of 1854 , an epidemic of cholera broke out among the Irish workers at the tunnel . In a letter to the Virginia Board of Public Works , Crozet states that the epidemic began at the eastern end of the tunnel where around 25 of the total 150 workers perished from the disease . The disease then spread to the western end where another eight workers died before work ceased . During this outbreak , little work could be done on the tunnel , adding yet another delay to the difficult work the Brookville Tunnel posed . 
