So back in the fall of 2019 me and the guys went out to Altoona and actually went to Horseshoe Curve. Usually we drive past, don't worry about going up to the park itself; but this time we decided to take a whole day and just sit there and watch. We didn't have the weather on our side, but as for train traffic - we had an epic day.
This post is pretty epic as a result, so to see the whole thing, click here.
After paying admission and hiking up the stairs (that was a longer hike than I remember...) we got set up at one of the picnic tables, despite the light rain (mist, really) that was falling at the time. And almost right away we had a train! Only thing was, it didn't sound right.
That was due to the lead unit having failed on the road. That meant that the train was crawling. I mean, the trailing unit was on his hands and knees (metaphorically speaking).
Said trailing unit was one of NS's SD70ACu rebuilds, and boy what a racket he was making! Now I know what a modern EMD (well, Caterpillar now) sounds like running at full freakin' blast.
This was about all the farther he got before he had to call it quits, rather than risk blowing out his traction motors. Did I mention it was a trash train? Yeah, of all trains to stall on Track 3 it was a trash train. That said, the cold and damp kept the smell down, thankfully.
Seemingly hardly any time passed before more trains came past - we barely waited ten minutes for this stack train to start up the East Slope.
And away he went, past the stalled trash train.
Like I said, never a dull moment on the Curve that day. We didn't have to wait long after the stack train for this general freight to make his way east past us.
Oh, and he had a DPU in the middle. I'm even starting to see these guys on freights going up the Conemaugh line, which isn't that severe of a grade - but I think they're using these locos to run longer trains, really.
This train had a lot, I mean a lot of boxcars in his consist, which is unusual these days. Of note was this old Corinth & Counce boxcar from the incentive per diem era. Morning Sun Books released a fine treatment of the IPD experiment sometime last year.
Also this ratty old Conrail gondola.
Lastly, here's his pair of rear-end helpers. I'm surprised that a train this long doesn't have a larger helper set - I remember the ingot trains from Bethlehem Steel that went west always had a quartet of SD40-2s on the tail (might have to dig out some pictures of that) but then again, they've probably got the DPU in dynamic braking too, so that takes care of that.
Again, we didn't have long to wait!
Yet another stack train charging westbound - this one must be the Hub Group train that NS runs at least one of in either direction on the Pittsburgh Line. Noted container/trailer giant J.B. Hunt is apparently part of the Hub Group.
Off he goes. While I'm at it, we came out at the right time for fall foliage, didn't we? Look at the color of that hillside!
Very interesting helpers on this westbound - SD40Es 6300 & 6301 - the only remaining locos from the first production run of the EMD SD50. These were built with frames of SD40-2 length, which crowded the internals and were known as the SD50S (for 'Short') as a result. All SD50 production from then on was on a frame four feet longer. These engines were preceded by a group of largely identical locos for Kansas City Southern designated as the SD40X. Heck of a coincidence getting them both on the same train.
Now, these helpers, coming up the hill after the last stack train, have arrived to assist the stalled trash train.
The trash train helpers had to run up Track 2 to one of the interlocking junctions to cross over to Track 3 to assist the trash train. I'm guessing that they crossed over at a location (once actively manned with a switch tower) known as MG. Meanwhile, here comes yet another eastbound container train.
If you look closely, you'll notice that the last unit, an EMD SD70ACE, has a door behind the cab left swinging open. It's a little more evident in the next photo. No idea why, because the loco seemed to be running just fine.
Probably evident in some photos already, but there was quite a crowd gathered to watch trains today, despite the weather.
Here come the helpers for the trash train.
As the crews of the trash train and helpers get ready to get their train on the move again, here comes another stack train!
This train had several of these trailers loaded - which were themselves loaded with road trailers for carrying containers. I assume they were headed for Philadelphia or New York.
Ah, hang on a minute, let's get juuust one more container train through.
And away he goes with one of NS's AC traction rebuilt GEs in the lead.
By the time that last container train's tail end was passing, the trash train was ready to go. Here he is beginning his cautious start up the grade once more. Starting a train on this kind of hill is an art - you have to time it so that the pull of the locomotives on each car back through the train more or less coincides with the release of the air brakes on each car. Do it wrong and you either stall out or snap a coupler somewhere along the train.
The last movement we saw that day, once the trash train was out of sight, was this final helper movement. Lead unit 6324 is an ex-Conrail locomotive, and there's a quick way to tell at a glance. She carries the older Flexicoil truck that EMD used under locomotives until 1972, when they were replaced by the HT-C truck - 6302 in this shot actually carries those. Conrail's mechanical department didn't trust the HT-C because of derailments of Amtrak's HT-C-equipped SDP40F locomotives (which weren't the problem, CR predecessor Penn Central's complete failure to do basic track maintenance was). They ordered their SD40-2 fleet and all but their last order of SD50s with the older truck, when getting replacements from loco trade-ins became too great of an effort. These SD40E helpers were rebuilt from ex-CR and ex-N&W SD50 locomotives just down the hill at the Juniata Locomotive Shops.
And that about wraps it up.
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