Rays Hill Tunnel
Rays Hill Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel, formerly part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Rays Hill Tunnel is 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 could be seen by westbound traffic on the Turnpike.
The tunnel connects Bedford and Fulton Counties in South Central Pennsylvania.
Replacement
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."