The following is a list of good entrances to the steam tunnels at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. As a proud graduate of SIU- C, I post this information for entertainment purposes only! Anyone who tries to use this information to gain access to the steam tunnels is doing so at their own risk!

At the west end of the pedestrian over pass from Brush Towers is a small Brick building. This is a pump house for a condensate pump and it is sometimes left unlocked. The doors were hidden by bushes when I graduated in 89, so it made for a good entrance and exit even at dusk.

There is another pump house in one of the turnarounds at Thompson Point. It is built partially below ground and although I don't remember what dorm it's near, you will know the pump house when you see it. It is usually locked since it is close to the dorms. Some friends of mine that lived at Thompson Point once removed the window frame on the door so they could reach in and unlock it. They replaced the window before going on their adventure. Although this took some time to remove and replace the window, the door is at the base of a flight of stairs and is well hidden.

Behind the Center for Public Policy (between Neckers and Ag) is a "back yard" between the building and the woods. Near the woods is a manhole on a raised concrete base. The manhole cover has a ring attached to it's underside so it can be locked with a hook from below. Tunnelers usually unlock it and flip the cover over so the ring is on the top, making it easy to pull open. You can see the manhole from a path in the woods by day and if the ring is on the top you can get in later that night.

Another good manhole is on the south lawn of the Ag building, halfway between the building and the sidewalk. It is almost flush with the grass and close to a tunnel vent. Sometimes it is flipped over so the ring is up. If it's unlocked you may be able to pry it up with a screwdriver.

At the south end of the Student Center by a curve in the driveway to the loading dock is a manhole similar to the one behind Public Policy. This is a heavy traffic area at all hours so be sneaky!

Life Science II has a large grate near it's SW corner. You can look down the grate into a major tunnel intersection. Most grates on the campus are tunnel air shafts and are barred at the bottom. This one is different because it is used for access and even has a ladder that goes down to the bottom. There are two hooks that latch the grate from below. If the grate is latched you can sometimes unlock it by snagging the latch handles with the buckle of a belt lowered through the grate.

Other stuff: There are gates across the tunnels in various locations. Some are left unlocked, while some locked ones can be crawled under or around by the pipes. Some gates are impassable and you will have to use another entrance to explore tunnels beyond them. Purdue has motion sensors in their tunnels and a friend of mine was busted up there. When I graduated in 89 there were no sensors at SIU but that may have changed by now so watch out! Some tunnel intersections have chairs at them and these are rumored to be guard posts used around finals week for catching test thieves. Rumor or not, stay out during finals week! Lights are on in most tunnels and if they aren't you can usually find the switch. Just the same, a flashlight should be carried by at least one person. The tunnels are dirty and there is water on the floor in some areas. You will get dirty since you have to crawl over pipes at some intersections, so wear old clothes. Most tunnels are rectangular concrete or brick, about four feet wide by six feet high. Some tunnels on the west campus are round concrete pipe.

Some friends and I got busted in the tunnels and I'm sure you want to know how and what happened to us. We thought we had passed the Physical Plant but were right under it. We happened to make a lot of noise while trying to get around a gate and were heard by a worker who called the cops. We tried to find a good hiding place but there wasn't one and we were picked up soon after that. My friends were put on probation and I got Disciplinary Censure since I appeared to be the leader of the group. All that meant was that they could possibly throw me out of school if I got in trouble for anything else. I didn't, so there was no problem. A complete write up on this incident appears in the "Caught" issue of Infiltration. See www.infiltration.org. Stay out of trouble.