first trip to the Curve

Wow, what can I say, but thanks again and again. Now I know why this is considered the mecca for railfans, at least here on the eastern part of the country.
I originally wanted to go during the peak of fall foliage with the weather just being cool enough to enjoy, but I guess by next Sunday it'll be past peak,peak of leaf drop and a little colder. My friends all think I'm crazy of course ! Only railfans know what I'm talking about...
I'll definitely pass on the MickeyDee's and opt for something else, but definitely have plenty of coffees at least for sure...
I'd really like to get some early morning shots and visit the museum Monday morning, and probably hit the Curve Tuesday or vice-versa depending on the weather,etc.
I'm not a camera buff, just bringing my Canon Powershot, which also has a movie cam. capability but it only allows 30 second clips at at a time, then you have to start again. Either way, good enough for me.
As for the DVD, Highball Productions, the Englishman Peter Crook puts out a great product. Crystal clear footage with just enough narrartion. I highly recommend his DVD's.
There is a clip of Johnstown on this one. Scooter, looks like a great town to railfan in, especially off that older stone viaduct bridge crossing the river! Classic. I also noticed some Amtrak trains which seem to have freight cars in tow following the passenger coaches. Have you seen these before ? What's with the truck trailers and "boxcar"-like looking cars ? There's also a few minutes of footage from The Station Inn in Cresson. Is it hard to book a porchpfront room in that place ? Is there a waiting list ?!?! lol...
Thanks for the aerials and detailed descriptions ! I'll print out this entire post and maps before heading out as I don't have a laptop....Wow, 3 days without a computer how did we all manage back in the day ?
Tomorrow my countdown begins....one week to Altoona !!!
See ya soon, pece,
bktrainz31

I believe I came across some disappointing news...

Last night before turning in, out of curiosity and to see what time the Museum opened, I went railroadcity.com and check the Hous of Operation. It states that from NOV.1-DEC.23 MON.-FRI. the Museum and the Curve are open to GROUPS & TOURS ONLY ! I shoulda checked this out before booking my trip, but things have been so hectic at work/family I just went along and booked never thinking they'd be closed to the general public any times during the year !
I don't want to change my plans as I'm sure "reading the fine print" will surely include $$$ penalties. It's my fault for not being more careful.
I've emailed them explaining my sitautation but doubt they'll make exceptions.
Now I guess I have 2 full days of walking the rails, hanging on the bridges with no Museum or Curve.
That really sucks, but at least I'll be down there.
Thanks again, peace,
bktrainz31

bigkidtrainz31 wrote:I guess by next Sunday it'll be past peak,peak of leaf drop and a little colder.

The peak around here was about two weeks ago, however there are still a surprisingly high number of leaves still hanging on. But with that said the weather is supposed to be getting a good bit colder this week. We had been in the 50' and it is supposed to go down to the 30's and 40's during the next week, plus the dreaded snow.

bigkidtrainz31 wrote:There is a clip of Johnstown on this one. Scooter, looks like a great town to railfan in, especially off that older stone viaduct bridge crossing the river! Classic.

I am a little biased to Johnstown myself, with it being my home, but it does provide some nice action and photo ops. The bridge you mention is simply refered to as the Stone Bridge. It is located at the confluence of the three rivers in downtown. It was made famous by the great 1889 flood, which the bridge took on and won. Everything that got wiped out in town piled up in front of the bridge and then caught on fire. It has beaten and battered by everything from floods to dump trucks, the latter of which had its latest round back in June, Bridge 1, Truck 0. Other than that Johnstown is also home to the world's steepest vehicular incline (yes that means you can take your car on it), the oldest RR tunnel in the US, Staple Bend Tunnel, and we also have the CSX S&C Sub which is served every weekday by the CSX local out of Rockwood, PA located on Sand Patch. Finally railfanning wise we have the former Bethlehem Steel road Conemaugh and Black Lick RR still in operation. They provided switching serivices to the mills for most of their existance, and still do switching for a couple of local industries, they also interchange with CSX every morning.

bigkidtrainz31 wrote:I also noticed some Amtrak trains which seem to have freight cars in tow following the passenger coaches. Have you seen these before ? What's with the truck trailers and "boxcar"-like looking cars ?

The boxcars were used to haul stuff for the postal service. They also had reefers whcih could be purchased by the car for farmers to use. The reefers were marketed under the name ExpressTrak, and near the end of their use they were used a lot for hauling apples from Washington state to the east coast. The trailers were roadrailers, just like what NS runs, and like the boxcars were just another way to add revenue to the Amtrak run. They have all been gone for at least 2 or 3 years now. Back when they did run them in the consist the Amtrak trains with them would often have consists that were close to 30 cars. Now they usually run with 4 or 5 passenger cars.

bigkidtrainz31 wrote:There's also a few minutes of footage from The Station Inn in Cresson. Is it hard to book a porchpfront room in that place ? Is there a waiting list ?!?!

I can't really help you here, the guy you would want to talk to about this is dwil89, he stays there all of the time, and he could help you out. I have been there a couple of times to sit on the porch and talk to people, but I have never stayed their, also if I am correct I want to say the owners name is Tom, I have met him a couple of times, very nice, but I can't think of his name for sure at the moment.

Sorry to hear about not being able to get into the museum and curve, that would have been a nice way to get out of the elements for a while, plus there is some neat stuff to see if you have never been to either place before. I hope that you will be able to work something out to get in there.

Scooter

Scooter,

Yea I haven't been able to get back to sleep this morning !
I'm gonna call them after 11 a.m. when they open and explain my case. I might have found a way tho.....
If I get the Contributing Memebership it states you have FREE admission all year round excluding Railfest.
It costs $50 but if it means getting in, I gotta do it. I figure I woulda spent at least half of that in admissions & taxi fares anyway. I'll keep you posted...
Johnstown sounds like a great place to railfan with plenty action and history (and a very well built bridge too!)
I had heard about the Station Inn last year. On the DVD that's the first shot you see with a plug for the place. Yes you're right... Tom Davis. I'm sure they're good friends....
Be back later....peace,

Phil

Good news ! I saved a bunch of money, by....lol...actually it looks like I'm not gonna lose any money at all...which is a good thing !

Switched the nights of my hotel stay to Sat. night check in to Tues. morning check out and Amtrak tickets a day earlier so I'm happy again. So now I gotta:

• hand in my "old" tickets at Newark for some "new ones". I'm gonna get over there during the week tho and take care of that. Don't wanna miss my train !
• visit both the Museum and Curve on Sunday (looks like rain in the forecast but hopefully that'll change !) Still gives me Monday to relax and putz up and down the line on foot.

I'll post back up later, but for now that's my updated sitaution.
Thanks again for all the help & info !
Peace,
bigkidtrainz31

Glad to hear that you got that worked out, and that you will be able to enjoy the build up to your trip a little more.

Scooter

Just got back from a week on the West Slope.....the weather last week was the best that I can remember in a long time in that area for late October/early November....also marked my 62nd separate stay in 10 years at the Station Inn.....My parents were born and raised in South Fork and I spent alot of time there staying with Granparents when I was younger......and although the Grandparents sold their houses a number of years ago, I still spend a significant amount of time out in the area nowadays...I am tentatively planning to head back out there this weekend...so if you see a black '05 Impala with a magmount antenna on the roof and NY plates, running around along Rte 53 on the West Slope...that'll likely be me....If you are interested in hikes, there are a couple of interesting walking/biking trails that parallel the NS Mainline on the West Slope...One runs between Ehrenfeld and Mineral Point on a former trolley line roadbed and another runs from Mineral Point and the Staple Bend Tunnel, along what was once the rightofway of the old Portage Railroad.....The third leg of this trail to be completed will run from Staple Bend West to Franklin, near Conemaugh....so eventually, one will be able to hike or bicycle from South Fork to near Conemaugh....a distance of 7 miles.....I have hiked all three sections....having done the Franklin-Staple Bend and Ehrenfeld to Mineral Point segments when they were unrestored muddy paths.....I just hiked the Ehrenfeld to Mineral Point segment again this past Friday for the first time since it was improved.

Hey all,
That's sounds great..this has got to be the best place on earth to be if you're a railfan ! After reading all of this I wish I had a few more vacation days to take. In a way though it leaves alot more to experience the next time....and I didn't even get there yet !
Thanks again keep ya posted, peace,
bktrainz31

dwil89: this is great news! I'll be in Johnstown this summer for the Quaker Gathering at the college. Hope to ride some rail-trails.

Don't quote me as the definitive source, but when the Curve is "Closed" you can still go up there, they just don't run the funicular or have the gift shop/mini-museum open. I have been to curve in the dead of winter, there is no maintenance, but you can huff it up the stairs to the top. Certainly, if you wanted to see the museums (In Altoona and the mini-museum at the Curve) then changing your ticket was the correct thing to do.

Brooks

When I was in the Altoona area this past July, the curve was not open during non-business hours. This was disappointing as last year my son and I were up at the curve at seven o'clock on a Sunday morning in July and had the whole place to ourselves for several hours. It was so peaceful and quiet. You can double check with the Railroader's Museum. The staff has always been extremely friendly and helpful to me. Here's the "contact us" link:


http://www.railroadcity.com/contact_us/index.php

I do recommend Sheetz as a place to grab a lunch and/or dinner. The new one they built a few blocks down from the Railroaders Museum is really nice, having eaten there during my trip in July. There is seating inside if you want to sit and eat. I know there is also a pizza place in the Station Mall, but don't know how the food is.

I will be heading out there this Thursday and heading home on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the trip.

OCtrainguy wrote:When I was in the Altoona area this past July, the curve was not open during non-business hours. This was disappointing as last year my son and I were up at the curve at seven o'clock on a Sunday morning in July and had the whole place to ourselves for several hours. It was so peaceful and quiet. You can double check with the Railroader's Museum. The staff has always been extremely friendly and helpful to me. Here's the "contact us" link:


http://www.railroadcity.com/contact_us/index.php

I do recommend Sheetz as a place to grab a lunch and/or dinner. The new one they built a few blocks down from the Railroaders Museum is really nice, having eaten there during my trip in July. There is seating inside if you want to sit and eat. I know there is also a pizza place in the Station Mall, but don't know how the food is.

I will be heading out there this Thursday and heading home on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the trip.

The Curve Visitors Center and the Museum will be open only on weekends from now until the end of December....and then will close altogether for the Winter....I will be out on the West Slope for another quick visit this weekend.

Hey all,
Good stuff, great info as usual, thanks so much !
Parker-when I read your post this morning I thought maybe the girl at the museum meant just the museum would be closed. But I never thought the
Curve itself could ever be closed off to the general public....I shoulda been more detailed with my question.
Either way I headed down to Newark today after work and got my tickets changed. I was in & out in minutes.
OC-Sheetz looks like every type of fast-food joint wrapped into one !
Just missed ya, I'll be arriving on Sat. evenings Pennsylvanian. Enjoy your visit !
I think I'll get up early on Sun. and do the Curve first, after all that is the
main attraction. I'd like to see the museum too. Hope I'll have time to do
both...
dwil-Has anyone just hiked up there anyway ? Are there park rangers keeping people away ? Is there a single way in that they close off, like a toll booth sorta deal ?
Keep ya posted, thanks again everyone, peace,
Phil (bktrainz31)

bigkidtrainz31 wrote: OC-Sheetz looks like every type of fast-food joint wrapped into one !

You can't go wrong with Sheetz, they do have just about everything. You definetly need to forget puke-Donalds and walk the extra block to Sheetz. Also, I don't know if they still do this or not, but Boyer Candy is located right at the south end of the 17th St. bridge. I remember back in the day, at least 5 years since I did it, they had a factory store that was there. You could go in and get a whole box of the misshaped candy for dirt cheap. The Mallow Cup and the Smoothie were always favorites of mine. If you don't anything better to do and you want to pretend it is still Halloween you could check this out.

Scooter

During the Winter, the parking lot gates are closed at the Curve.....For while, they were leaving the gates to the steps open so visitors could still go up even though the gift shop and funicular were closed......I would imagine that right now before Winter, they'll leave the gates open to the stairs so people can walk up and down...