Rays Hill Tunnel

Rays Hill Tunnel is one of three original Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels that were abandoned (this one in 1968) after two massive realignment projects. The others included the Sideling Hill Tunnel, and farther west, the Laurel Hill Tunnel.

Rays Hill Tunnel is 3532 ft long. It was the shortest of the seven original tunnels on Pennsylvania Turnpike. Due to its short length, its ventilation fans were installed only 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. This difference can be seen by westbound traffic on the Turnpike.

The tunnel connects Bedford and Fulton Counties in South Central Pennsylvania.

Tunnel bypass


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."

Current
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.

Trivia
The tunnel was prominently featured in the 2005 music video for the song Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo by American rock band Bloodhound Gang.