Tunnel Bob

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Word Category: People

Related Words: Scanner Dan, Piccolo Guy, Segway Guy, Art Paul Schlosser (Add)

20 Definitions

Tunnel bob lived with his parents on the corner of chamberlain and highland near West High School (a block from where I grew up) until both his father and mother passed away. While living there he found it amusing to turn on the outside water spigots of all the neighborhood houses, and let them run all night. He was also known for sporting a Green bay packers stocking cap 365 days a year, although I don't know if hes still wearing it. Contrary to chiomi's definition below, Bob is not a UW employee, nor does he live in the tunnels. Bob does, however, know the 35 some miles of the steam tunnels better than anyone, even the UW maintenance staff. He has been known to sneak up on workers to scare them, then inform them of burnt out light bulbs. After a few of these incidents, the maintenance staff began giving him light bulbs so he could replace them himself. This may be where the UW employee misconception stems from. Posted by: tepkel on Jul 11, 2008 (5) (0)
He's still alive. Unfortunately I work at a State Street coffeeshop and see him around. Always starin' at the ladies. We've kicked him out dozens of times. Posted by: Anonymous on Nov 04, 2009 (1) (0)
Re: a couple of comments above. Tunnel Bob and Cosmo are not the same person. Posted by: Anonymous on Mar 16, 2010 (0) (0)
The first time i met Bob was in ricks old golde and he was going by the name Cosmo, may he rest in peace. Posted by: Anonymous on Feb 06, 2010 (0) (0)
He is/was (depending on the veracity of stories of his demise) crazier than an outhouse rat! Posted by: Anonymous on Dec 01, 2009 (0) (0)
Back in 1982-83 I met Tunnel Bob in his native element--the steam/utility tunnels. The Capital Times made the mistake of publishing an article about the tunnels and Bob. At the time a friend and I took it as an invitation to adventure. We didn't run into Bob our first night or two down there, but it was just a matter of time before our first encounter. Not surprisingly, we freaked each other out pretty good when the meeting inevitably occurred (near the physical plant, if I remember correctly). That began a period of occasional "collaboration" with him. He was always wanting to play hide and seek with us. We usually agreed to play around the time that we were prepared to call it a night and head for the dorms and our beds. The next time we would see him we would convince him that we were hidden and he just didn't see us. Years before he had been given tacit permission to replace light bulbs, but eventually the UW did not want the liability of officially giving him a charge. They subsequently made many efforts to make it more difficult for him to get in the tunnels, but there were so many ways in that he could always maintain at least one of them. He never "lived" in the tunnels. It is just a long-standing weekend hobby for him. He's a bit odd, but perfectly harmless (if you're a guy). I don't exactly recommend interaction with him if you are a woman unaccompanied by a man. He once got so nervous when I brought some women down on a "tour" of the tunnels that he hit is head on (and broke) a light bulb. To this day he usually greets me with a "Going down in the tunnels tonight?" in that, um, unusual Tunnel Bob way of speaking. Tunnel Bob is definitely a Madison character worthy of the Madison City Dictionary. Posted by: LibraryDude on Nov 29, 2009 (0) (0)
Tunnel Bob would always ask to buy chips for $.10 from the Essentials store at Memorial Union, it was amusing to a point. He eventually stopped after they threatened to revoke his membership if he asked it one more time. He also once told me he was going to report two suspicious individuals who were outside of Noodles, when I was standing outside of Noodles with my roommate. He would often point to himself and hum "Hail to the Chief" and then point at someone else and hum some clown song. Posted by: presley on Nov 20, 2009 (0) (0)
I've seen him countless times at the Terrace and at various points along University Ave and have always been a fan. The way he walks, he looks like something straight out of late 60s artwork, like The Beatle's Yellow Submarine or something. He also looks a little like James Taylor looked when he was younger.

I've often wished I had as much time on my hands as Bob seems to have...I'd probably be doing the same thing...just wandering around and hanging out Posted by: hermit on Nov 10, 2009 (0) (0)
I have seen Bob countless times over the past 10 years in Madison. I notice all of the comments are about him staring at women... but I never noticed this! Usually he is staring upwards or into the distance! I think he's mysterious and has lots of thoughts... Posted by: Anonymous on Nov 04, 2009 (0) (0)
While a student in the early 80s at UW Madison, I saw him everywhere. I did get peered at once between the stacks at the Madison Public Library, and another time I was waiting for a bus on State Street when I heard a very soft "boo" spoken behind and above me. Bob was peeking around the bus shelter corner down at me, smiling, then took off. I was a bit creeped out but sensed he was harmless and appreciated his cute character from AFAR. Posted by: paliol on Oct 29, 2009 (0) (0)

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Tunnel Bob sauntering towards Pasqual's at Hilldale

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Tunnel Bob

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