MISSOURI (KSNF/KODE) — Many people associate tunnels with vehicle traffic, but the longest underground trail in the Show-Me State is actually associated with trains.
The Vale Tunnel in Kansas City served the Missouri Central Railroad, which carried passengers across the state, from Saint Louis to Kansas City, and back again, since it first opened in 1904.
The 441ft long tunnel travels under Bannister Road — one of the busier east-west routes in the Kansas City Metro. Over the years, this rails-to-trails tunnel has had many different names, including the Vale Tunnel, the CRI-and-P Tunnel, and the Valley of Vale Tunnel. The underground section of this railway saw its last train pass through in 1980, shortly after the Rock Island Railroad declared bankruptcy. That’s when the tunnel and the rail line traversing the tunnel were left abandoned.
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