first trip to the Curve

Phil,

Great to hear that you had such an enjoyable trip, and that you got to see a good many trains. Too bad you couldn't have stayed for Tuesday, as the weather was absolutley fantastic for mid November. It was bright and sunny and the temp made it to 60 here in Johnstown, just great for this time of year. I hope you didn't have to freeze to bad while sitting at the curve though. As for the Harrisburg stuff, also a neat place, with plenty of action. I don't go over that way much but dwil89 could help you out there. As for mountain railroading, if you ever get tired of Altoona, you may want to give Cumberland, MD a shot some time. It can be just as busy, if not busier than Altoona. It's located at the meeting point of the CSX main from DC/Baltimore to Pittsburgh and the old St. Louis line, so you got trains coming from all directions. As with Altoona it also has shops, far more accesable, and active, and also a very active yard. Plus if you ever go there with your own transportation you can check out Sand Patch's horseshoe curve at Mance, PA, I don't think there is a cabby out there that will haul you up the hill to get to it! Other than that the ride on the Capital Limited from DC to Cumberland will also take you through some of the best scenery in the mid atlantic, do a search for CSX's Magnolia Cutoff and you'll find out what I mean. Again, glad you enjoyed the trip!

Scooter

dwil- Yeah they were for my digital camera. My 'ol Canon Powershot allows only 30 sec. vid clips at a time. It was well worth it tho. Bells and horns are always nice to have in there too, and I got plenty of that ! I'll look into buying a pretty decent vidcam soon. Maybe I'll write to Santa for that one !

scooter- Yes, Sunday morning at the Curve was ok, but as the hours passed it became overcast and much colder. But like I said if you're really into trains nothing really matters ! I could see it was getting warmer when I left Tuesday a.m.
Maryland sounds really nice too, maybe that'll be my next stop. Also heard from a friend down Virgina way, is nice too.
Hopefully I'll have some pics/vids up soon.
Keep ya posted ! Peace,


Phil

Hi all,

I'm headed to Pittsburgh this weekend for the Bon Jovi concert Saturday night. After getting some good ideas for train things to do while I'm there, the idea that struck me the most was visiting Horseshoe Curve on the way home. I know the museum is closed, but I hear I can still get to the curve. Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts for a NY railfan visiting the curve this Sunday?

NYSubway18 wrote:Hi all,

I'm headed to Pittsburgh this weekend for the Bon Jovi concert Saturday night. After getting some good ideas for train things to do while I'm there, the idea that struck me the most was visiting Horseshoe Curve on the way home. I know the museum is closed, but I hear I can still get to the curve. Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts for a NY railfan visiting the curve this Sunday?

In addition to what you already read in this thread, check out this information:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=49303

NYSubway18 wrote:Hi all,

I'm headed to Pittsburgh this weekend for the Bon Jovi concert Saturday night.

See you there.

Well, back from the Curve. Very cool. Having never been there, I had no idea what to expect. Thought I would be coming in from one side, and have to climb the hill to look over the side (in my mind coming from the outside left side of the curve). Anyway, I drive through this tunnel, and wham! I'm in the middle of the curve, and two trains are going through the curve - one in each direction. What a strange feeling! Got a real late start out of Pittsburgh (drank way too much before, during and after the concert!) and also decided to pit stop at Jim's Train Shop. Didn't get to the curve until around 3pm, but there was still plenty of action.













I also swung by the Gallitzan Tunnels, but it was getting late, was real cold, and not much traffic. Grabbed a couple shots:





The rest of the pics from the curve are here:
Horseshoe Curve etc. Pics

The rest of my Pittsburgh trip pics are here:
Pittsburgh, PA 2008 Pics

Here are my photo albums from my trips to the Altoona area in November 2007 and January 2008.

November 2007:
http://octrainguy.rrpicturearchives.net ... x?id=24372

January 2008:
http://octrainguy.rrpicturearchives.net ... x?id=29952

Looking forward to my next trip in July.

just got back from my first 'official' trip. stayed at station inn in cresson/ highly recomended! on the way out (from ny area), took 78 to check out the yards in h'burg, then n. to rockville br., then followed the main via local roads. low road btw.duncannon/newport via loshes run had some good spots. tuscarora, lewiston, mattawana. side trip to e.b.t. 2nd day,tunnels, e. to tyrone then back, stopping at different crossings along the way. fostoria had a pretty good angle. went to museum/curve. had time to explore corman branch up to fallen timber, got some shots of their power that evening coming down w/ loads. next day out to conpit/ j'town, lots of old mills, but not alot of activity in there. good angle from n. bank of river above town at coopersdale around curve. e. of j.town(franklin)ovhd. br. has good view w/ mills in background. s. fork was good, jamestown rd br. ok, cassandra footbridge probably the best overall. weather wasnt great, but lots of trains and snapper moves. more questions than answers though, and a return is in order. research.

Any pics? Sounds like a great trip. I would love to get back there - a bit of a trek from Westchester though - as you would know being from "somewhere in the Hudson Valley"

i shot 4 rolls, not all trains though. other industrial subjects. those mills are very 'model railroady'.
i did my pics on print film and dont have a scanner set up to post them on here, but theres so many trains it's like shooting fish in a barrel. a few lulls, but theres enogh chatter on the radio and the detectors are closely spaced so its pretty easy to figure out whats going on. we got hit w/ crappy weather most of the time. some other friends/ guests went down to cumberland. we went back via 80, which was quick. going out from your area you could do that and check out scranton, then head s. to allentown and 78 w. from there. you should plan a trip.