The Historic Horseshoe Curve, Altoona Pennsylvania

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.