Rays Hill Tunnel

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Rays Hill Tunnel

Rays Hill Tunnel in 1981, still appearing as it did when in service as a highway tunnel.
Overview
Line	South Penn abandoned
Location	Rays Hill, Bedford / Fulton counties, Pennsylvania, USA
Coordinates	40°01′05″N 78°12′14″W / 40.018056°N 78.203889°W / 40.018056; -78.203889
Status	Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike Currently Pike2Bike Trail
Operation
Work begun	1881 - railway 1938 - highway
Opened	October 1, 1940 - Interstate 76
Owner	South Pennsylvania Railroad abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission abandoned Pike2Bike Trail
Character	Hiking, biking and skateboard trail
Technical
Construction	1881-1885 - railway 1938-1940 -highway
Length	2,532 feet (772 m) -highway
Number of lanes	2

Rays Hill Tunnel is one of three original Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels which were abandoned (this one in 1968) after two massive realignment projects. The others included the Sideling Hill Tunnel, and further west, the Laurel Hill Tunnel. The reason for abandonment was because it was thought to be less expensive to realign the Turnpike than to bore a second tube for four lane traffic. Rays Hill Tunnel is 3532 feet (1077 meters) long. It was the shortest of the seven original tunnels on Pennsylvania Turnpike. Due to its short length, it only contains ventilation fans at its western portal. Its eastern portal is the only one of the 14 tunnel portals on the original turnpike that has no ventilation fan housing. The tunnel connects Bedford and Fulton Counties in South Central Pennsylvania.

Rays Hill Tunnel during construction of the railroad tunnel in the 1880s. Andrew Carnegie is present in the middle of the photo.

From the Turnpike's opening in 1940 until the realignment projects, the tunnels were bottlenecks due to reduced speeds with opposing traffic in the same tubes. Four other tunnels on the Turnpike - Allegheny Mountain, Tuscarora Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain, and Blue Mountain - each had a second tube bored, as it was determined in these instances to be the less expensive option. All of the original tunnels were part of the never-completed South Pennsylvania Railroad which history has dubbed "Vanderbilt's Folly." Since 2001, this tunnel, like the Sideling Hill Tunnel five miles (8 km) to the east, has been incorporated into a public bicycle/walking trail. At the present time, the tunnels remain unlit and unimproved since their closure in 1968. The entire length of the bypassed section is now commonly known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rays Hill Tunnel

• Rays Hill Tunnel is at coordinates 40°01′05″N 78°12′14″W / 40.018056°N 78.203889°W / 40.018056; -78.203889 (Rays Hill Tunnel)Coordinates: 40°01′05″N 78°12′14″W / 40.018056°N 78.203889°W / 40.018056; -78.203889 (Rays Hill Tunnel)
• Gribblenation's page about Rays Hill Tunnel
• More information about Rays Hill Tunnel

v t e Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Completed highways Mainline Turnpike Northeast Extension James E. Ross Highway Amos K. Hutchinson Bypass (Turnpike 66) Partially-completed highways Mon–Fayette Expressway (Turnpike 43) Southern Beltway (Turnpike 576) Tunnels Allegheny Mountain Tunnel Blue Mountain Tunnel Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel Lehigh Tunnel Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel Aborted expansion plans Chester Extension Erie Extension Gettysburg Extension Keystone Shortway Northwest & Southwest Extension Philadelphia Loop Extension Scranton Extension Historical Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike Laurel Hill Tunnel Negro Mountain Tunnel Quemahoning Tunnel Rays Hill Tunnel Sideling Hill Tunnel South Pennsylvania Railroad Tolling systems E-ZPass

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