Horseshoe Curve

Horseshoe Curve
Summer 1985 Trip

My favorite location to railfan outside of Ohio is the Horseshoe Curve and Altoona area in Pennsylvania. Horseshoe Curve is five miles west of Altoona on Norfolk Southern's former Pennsylvania Railroad mainline. The three mainline tracks (four before the early 80s when Conrail downsized), round the 180-degree curve to go around the valley and gain elevation. Westbound trains climb around the curve on a nearly 2% grade.

My parents, brother Chad, our neighbors' son Todd, and I went to Altoona for the day on a Saturday, going into Altoona and then heading back west to go to the Curve.

We ate lunch at the park down at road level, seeing the easbound Amtrak Pennsylvanian round the Curve on track 1. We then climbed the steps to get to the upper level of the park. At the time of our visit, there was a Pennsylvania Railroad K4 on display.

We then saw an eastbound piggyback and two westbound piggybacks. The westbound piggybacks both had helper units shoving hard on the rear of the trains. Then the westbound Pennsylvanian came around the Curve. Another eastbound piggyback came through not long after that. Just before heading down to the parking lot, a pair of eastbound helper units came downhill running light to Altoona. As we were getting in the car, another eastbound pair of helpers went around the Curve. Most likely, the helpers going light to Altoona had been on the rear of a couple of the westbounds that we'd seen.

We then went to Gallitzin, which is where the line summits and the tunnels are located. We first went to the west portals of the westbound tunnels and saw a westbound piggyback train come roaring out of Gallitzin Tunnel. We then went over the bridge on South Main Street, seeing an eastbound grain train stopped at the top of the Slide on track 1. We went over to Tunnel Hill to the overlook above the tunnels where we got a nice view of the tracks heading east towards Horseshoe Curve and Altoona. There we saw the head end of the stopped grain train. The rear of the train was west of AR Tower. My dad then drove our car down a "trail" to trackside, ignoring the "No Trespassing" signs. We weren't able to get too close to the tracks as there were maintenance crews going by on either track 2 or 3.

We then went back to the Curve where we saw an eastbound piggyback with helpers. Then an eastbound mixed freight went through. This train was having problems. We spotted smoke coming from a hotbox (overheated journal bearing) on one of the cars towards the rear of the train. An off duty Conrail worker was there at the time. We pointed out the hotbox, and he radioed the train crew and told them of the problem. Then, just before we left for the day, we saw the eastbound grain train come down around the curve. It had a pair of helpers on the rear for dynamic braking. We then headed down to the parking lot. Right as we got in the car, the rain started falling, and as we were driving through the downpour on the road that paralleled the tracks on the east side of the Curve, we could see another piggyback train going through.

Talk about a nice day of railfanning!


The eastbound Pennsylvanian rounds the Curve on track 1, heading for its next stop at the station in Altoona.	The Pennsylvania Railroad K4 that used to be on display at the park. Not long after my initial visit, it was taken out of the park for restoration, and a Pennsylvania Railroad GP9 diesel was put in its place.	An eastbound piggyback comes downhill on track 1.

A pair of helpers shove hard on the rear of one of the two westbound piggybacks. In the first picture, you can see me holding up a tape recorder to record the trains passing.		The westbound Pennsylvanian rounds the Curve, heading uphill towards the summit.	Todd (center), Chad (right), and I (left) sit in the middle of the stone horseshoe on the slope at the park. Since the construction of the visitors' center, new stairs, and funicular in the 1990s, this has been removed.	The stopped eastbound grain train viewed from the overlook in Tunnel Hill. The trail we went on took us down by the signal bridge to the left of the locomotives.

An eastbound mixed freight eases downhill with a hotbox at the rear of the gondola.	While waiting between trains, Todd took my parents' camera, hopped the fence, and climbed inside the cab of the K4. These are two pictures that turned out pretty decent. It was so dark he didn't know what he was taking pictures of. The first is the engineer's controls. The second is the back of the boiler and firebox. Through the open firebox doors, you can see the grating at the bottom where the coal would burn to heat the water in the boiler.		Todd (center), Chad (right), and I (left) stand in front of the K4 for a picture.

Kevin L. Wagner

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