Horseshoe Curve is a three-track railroad curve on Norfolk Southern Railway’s Pittsburgh Line in Blair County, Pennsylvania. The curve itself is about 2,375 feet long and 1,300 feet in diameter; it was completed in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad as a way to lessen the grade to the summit of the Allegheny Mountains. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
About Horseshoe Curve (Pennsylvania) in brief
Horseshoe Curve is a three-track railroad curve on Norfolk Southern Railway’s Pittsburgh Line in Blair County, Pennsylvania. The curve itself is about 2,375 feet long and 1,300 feet in diameter; it was completed in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad as a way to lessen the grade to the summit of the Allegheny Mountains. It eventually replaced the time-consuming Allegheny Portage Railroad, the only other route across the mountains for large vehicles. The rail line has been important since its opening, and during World War II the Curve was targeted by Nazi Germany in 1942 as part of Operation Pastorius. The Curve was later owned and used by Pennsylvania Railroad successors Penn Central, Conrail, and Norfolk Southern. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, and it became a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2004. Horseshoes Curve has long been a tourist attraction; a trackside observation park was complete in 1879 and a visitor center was built in the early 1990s. Each track consists of 136 pounds per yard, welded rails that were, as of 2012, laid in 2011.
For every 100 feet, the tracks at the HorsShoe Curve bend 9 degrees and 15 minutes with the entire curve totaling 220 degree. The Horsshoe Curve descends from an approximate elevation of 1,640 feet on the southern side to 1,600 feet on the northern. The grade of the curve was listed by the Pennsylvanian Railroad as 1. 45 percent, and currently as 1 percent by Norfolk Southern. It is 5 miles west of Altoona in Logan Township, Pennsylvania, at railroad milepost 242. The Blair County Veterans Memorial Highway follows the valley west from Altoona and tunnels under the curve. The Pennsylvania Railroad was incorporated in 1847 to build a railroad from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, replacing the cumbersomePortage Railroad. The entire line, including Hors shoe Curve, opened on February 15, 1854, at a cost of $15,15, USD. It took over three years to complete, with only heavy equipment, only men, drags and picks, and shovels, to fill the ravines between Johnstown and Altoona.
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This page is based on the article Horseshoe Curve (Pennsylvania) published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
