The World Famous Horseshoe Curve, Altoona Pennsylvania

Published 2023-09-15
The Horseshoe Curve is a three-track railroad curve on Norfolk Southern Railway's Pittsburgh Line in Blair County, Pennsylvania. The curve is roughly 2,375 feet (700 m) long and 1,300 feet (400 m) in diameter. Completed in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad as a way to reduce the westbound grade to the summit of the Allegheny Mountains, it replaced the time-consuming Allegheny Portage Railroad, which was the only other route across the mountains for large vehicles. The curve was later owned and used by three Pennsylvania Railroad successors: Penn Central, Conrail, and Norfolk Southern.

All Comments (21)
  • @philstead8756
    My wife Linda and I toured horseshoe just a week after your video but were not able to make it up the stairs. Thank you for your track level view completing our memory.
  • @tonyvillella5457
    Thanks ever so much for bringing my childhood memories back to me. My dad worked on the Pennsy after WWII, and lost his life in a train wreck near Loretto, PA in 1955. We would go to the Curve waiting for him to return after his shift was over, then drive down to pick him up. We lived in Sinking Valley, After his death my mother moved us to Florida, but when we go visit relatives, we would always go to the curve to watch the trains. My last visit was in 2005, and the Altoona Mirror did a story on the accident and interviewed my sister and I.
  • @jcamisa50
    My son and his wife are up there as we speak. Thank you for the tour. Great video!đź‘Ťđź‘Ť
  • @ricktrevino4371
    Wow amazing. Than you so much for the history the Horseshoe Curve. Really appreciated. One of these day I will make it there to visit.
  • @p51mustang31
    I was just there this weekend, quite a site! Got to see a Norfolk Southern train with 9 engines pulling 191 cars! The lift is still broken as of 5/18/24 so we had to take the stairs.
  • @terrysmith7076
    I have a very old picture of the Horseshoe Curve in my dining room.
  • @jamesyoung448
    Nice! and you even got a horn salute from the coal train.
  • @jhonwask
    I was there in the early 1990's It was very exciting.
  • When you were walking through the gift shop, due to the floorboard noise, it sounded like well maybe Bigfoot was your cameraman. I was expecting a giant Crunch and then the cameraman disappearing through the war
  • @GypsyTaz
    I was on amtrak coming from Huntington going around Horseshoe Curve. I was a little scared but fascinated at the same time!
  • @doc1007
    Wonderful,I would give one finger to spend 1 day there in the 40s...
  • @nobux717
    You should do a separate video of the floor boards.
  • @rwendell0912
    Another one in Hyde Park Pa is pretty wild too.
  • One more observation I love the common Tesla fuel. How true. They say that if 10% of the cars and trucks driven today were electric that the grid system we have right now couldn't handle it. I personally don't know how having an electric car has affected the individuals who have to charge it on a daily basis. I'd be interested to know that. There was a fellow many years ago who said that each time a fuel changes its form there is a marketed decrease in the total energy that's produced at the end of the line. Personally I think the best way to handle the power required for electric cars in the future will be nuclear power plants, unfortunately. The good old gasoline combustion engine will be here for a while.
  • I know it must be kind of narrow, but are there any sightings to be used for Runaway Train at the downhilll side? I've seen CSX trains on that horseshoe curve, does any other major rail lines use it? At last question are there any restrictions to what can and cannot run on that curve? Thank you it was a very nice video.
  • @davidbross6942
    Couldn't miss the red light you drove through. Why do it? And why include it?
  • @jhonwask
    I think that train was over 2 miles long>
  • @ernestyeagley512
    There was never a GP 4 and it wasn't an oil burner, it was diesel fuel.