Horseshoe Curve on the old Pennsylvania Railroad west of Altoona is one of the most famous examples of railroad engineering in the world.
Over Memorial Day Weekend, 2013, Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 #765 pulled a series of three excursions from Lewistown to Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, including the assault on the grade west of Altoona and around Horseshoe Curve. The trains were called The Horseshoe Curve Steam Special, and Diverging Clear Productions was there with four photographers to capture the action. This DVD is the result.
Action filmed over the three days is combined to present a single run of the train, which ran empty from Enola to Lewistown, where excursionists boarded the train.
We picked up the train north of Enola at Duncannon, and followed the train up to Gallitzin and back. Well known locations include the cut at Union Furnace, Tyrone, Bellwood, Alto Tower in Altoona, Horseshoe Curve and the tunnels at Gallitzin.
Along the way we look back to the steam era, with vintage footage of Pennsylvania Railroad steam in action at Horseshoe Curve and on the mainline over the Alleghenies. We also see a T-1 4-4-4-4 under construction at Altoona’s Juniata shops and a completed T-1 on the Juniata test rack, before seeing one of the last examples of Juniata built steam on the road.
We filmed multiple running meets with today’s Norfolk Southern freights, and even caught a New York Central 20th Century Limited observation car bringing up the rear of Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian.
In addition to the main program, there are an additional twenty minutes of bonus footage of the Horseshoe Curve Steam Special in action, along with previews of several other Diverging Clear Productions titles.
