Wow what an awesome catch. the constant squealing from the tension of wanting to be straight, the number of cars, very cool. I would love to someday visit this place!
I guess that people have to see Horseshoe Curve in person to really appreciate it. The sight of these long freight trains going around the curve is truely an impressive sight.
Thanks! I'm glad we never changed locations like we had talked about doing before the train showed up. I don't think it would have been as impressive from any vantage point other than on Horseshoe.
wow great video! all i can say is that its just rare to see that many engines on1 train nowadays.. but probably you will see a manifest again for example i saw 2 weeks ago a at least 13 engine manifest shifting coke cars at the coke plant in Clartion, Pa
Back in 1970's managed a General Electric parts warehouse in Los Angeles. Supplied parts to Southern Pacific U-33 locomotives. Also to mining companies and my pride White Pass and Yukon Railway. On my trip to Alaska took a ride on the White Pass Railroad. Enjoy any stories, pictures or movies about railroads. Jim Landrum
up there u c quite a few with 5 or 6 engines, but I've only ever seen 1 other train with more than that. I had to do a double take when I saw it, it had 14 engines.
Consider all of the other inefficiencies that were present in its last couple of decades - they made little to no investment in CTC (still relied on manned interlocking towers) and welded rail, they were saddled with a large money-losing passenger and commuter business - the Broadway Limited supposedly ran close to empty many times, and their inability to invest in new commuter cars is what spurred financial assistance from Philly in buying the Silverliners, they were stuck with countless branchlines they couldn't abandon in areas where industry was on the decline... The Pennsy will always be a favorite, but the sad fact is they were really dying a slow death from the end of World War II onwards.
You can thank government regulation, or should I say, interference, for much of what you itemized here. That, along with an industry steeped in tradition and reluctant to change, made for a disastrous combination. It's too damn bad the way it all went, but I'm glad much of the physical plant still exists under new operating personnel with branch lines taken over by regionals. Thanks for the comment.
why are people into cars, planes, buses, trams? its a hobby! to hear 8 locomotives at full power making over 20,000 horsepower pulling a train miles long, is pretty impressive and is usually well worth a look!
I notice that many people seem to like the SD40. I also notice that many people seem to deride the GE locomotives. Are EMD products better, and is the SD40 one of the best locomotives of a proud lot?
Nice catch! Great reward for your patience! Nice seeing an eight-axle tank car. Also Chessie kitty! Do they have flange lubricators for this curve? Nice that engineers gently sounded horns. Thanks for posting this.
Not 8 headed but six. You see in train terms only the engines in the front are the engines that are called headers the two in the rear are called pushers, and not those that sell drugs. LOL.
Thad ward That could have been the case. I didn't own a scanner at the time, but I recall other people reporting that the train had had all sorts of trouble getting out of Altoona, hence the delay. I remember there had been a fire nearby that necessitated running hoses across the tracks, but I think the other part of the problem was the power, which might explain the double set of helpers ahead.
curraheewolf That was ACFX 17787. I think you're thinking of the Pennsy 'Rail Whale' cars, which were 6 axles. I'm not sure how the capacities compared.
HSC is still iffy, and i.m.o not worth the admission for maybe 2 hours of action if you get any. if you stay all day it is worth it. The trees n brush outside the fence make the view horrible, just a few lil openings you can see a train coming. These were the days of train watching
I haven't been to the inside of the Curve since October 2010, and the only reasons I went then were that I had my family with me and the leaves were really nice that year, so getting foliage in the shot was part of the objective. I'm probably hoping against hope, but maybe one of Wick Moorman's last acts of benevolence as NS CEO will be to order the trimming of the Curve again. I can always dream.
***** Absolutely. The fact that NS got primarily the PRR routes and CSX got primarily the NYC routes when their predecessors were rebuffed in their efforts to essentially do the same thing over 35 years prior has always been a bit mindblowing to me.
FastFlyingVirginian I always kinda figured it was almost revenge when they split Conrail up the way they did and it is ironic that NS got the old PRR basically because at one time the Pennsylvania railroad controlled the Norfolk and Western
