The Historic Horseshoe Curve, Altoona Pennsylvania

This horseshoe shaped section of railroad is located 5 miles outside of Altoona, Pennsylvania in the Allegany Mountains, is perhaps one of the most well known sections of railroad in the United States. This marvel of engineering is situated in the Juniata Valley, surrounded by the beautiful Allegheny Mountains. Whether you're a railroad fan or just love a beautiful view, the Horseshoe Curve has much to offer, with an incredible history that takes you back to the days when locomotives belched fire and steam as they roared along the tracks. You can watch the trains go by and enjoy the sights from an observation platform reach by the Funicular railway that takes you from the parking area to the park originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1854. Now operated by the National Park Service the Horseshoe Curve was placed in the National Register of Historic Places, and listed as a National Historic Landmark on the 13^th of November 1966.

Designed by J. Edgar Thompson and Herman Haupt the plans followed an original idea submitted by Col. Charles Schatter at the request of the Commonwealth. The Pennsylvania Railroad needed a direct route through the Alleghenies to replace the system being used at the time that called for cars to be hauled up a series of steep inclines by ropes attached to stationary motors. Col. Schatter initially submitted three different designs, a southern route, a central route and a northern route; however the Commonwealth chose not to do anything with them at the time. In 1847 the new chief engineer, J. Edgar Thompson redesigned the original middle route so that it would not contain any grades that exceeded 1.8 degrees.

Running through the Juniata Valley out from Altoona, they found that they would not have any problems with grades running no more than 1.75 percent. This continued on for approximately 5 ½ miles when they encountered a serious problem, the valley they had been following ended in a mountain side that split into two deep ravines. On the other side of this ravine they found that the grade was again exactly what they needed to ensure smooth continuous operations. This then ran south for a short distance before turning west again and running up to the mountainside near the town of Gallitzin, where they had already planned to tunnel through the mountain side and continue westward.

The problem was how to bridge the gap between the two valleys. A bridge was the first thought but was discarded as it would create a grade of 4.37 percent which was far to steep for their needs. So the decision was made to create a huge fill between the two valleys and lay the track on top of it. The resulting track ran in a 220 degree arc that comprises two curves, the one on the north side has a radius of 637 feet, while the one on the south side's radius tightens to 609 feet, thus creating a horseshoe shaped section of track.

The first track was completed and in operation in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad and was widened to two tracks and eventually to four track in 1900. Owned successively by Penn Central, Conrail (who removed one of the tracks in 1981) and now by the Norfolk Southern Railway it has been thought of as one of the most important sections of America's rail system.

Because of its importance it has been protected by the military form sabotage in many conflicts starting with the Union army during the civil war and ending with the Second World War when the Nazis tried to sabotage it during Operation Pastorius. This vital rail link joining the east coast to the west has carried untold millions of tons of cargo, and countless thousands of passengers, as the country expanded to the west. Now still in use for both, it also draws thousands of visitors every year and has been featured in such places as the Columbian Exposition of Chicago in 1893, and pictured in countless calendars photographs. At one point in time conductors were required to announce to their passengers that they were approaching the Horseshoe Curve so that they could see both ends of the train at the same time. Long considered one of the Engineering Wonders of the world the Horseshoe Curve is a truly unique place to stop have a picnic in the park and watch the trains go by.

Sources, Wikipedia, Railfan's Guide to the Altoona Area and railroadcity.com