Question About Horseshoe Curve and Galitizin Tunnels

[nyc#25]

Indeed, the RSD7s were the only short hood road-switchers on the PRR.  However,

there was an RS3 fleet that pulled Pittsburgh commuters that had steam generators.

[K4sPRR]

Sam1

 I don't remember the models, although I believe they were Alco locomotives. My father and my brother thought that mother and I were nuts, but we did not let it bother us. My mother liked trains as much as I do.

Hi Sam1,

Thanks for sparking some memorable moments!

Those were infact Alco units you seen, the PRR had five RSD-7's, or APS-24ms as the PRR called them, that were numbered 8606 to 8610.  They were used as passenger helper units and were the only Alco's on the PRR that were equipped with a steam generator.  Another oddity for the time is that they were the only road switchers designed to operate short hood forward.  They worked the Altoona area their entire PRR career.

You and your mother were not nuts, my parents and grandparents did the same with me during the night run of the passenger fleet, we hung out near the PRR station in nearby Portage.  The night sounds of E units on the Mountain, sparks flying off the wheels...it was great.

Also, I noted a posting about the Pittsburgh Division being refered to as the Hill, it was refered to as the Mountain.

[Anonymous]

Except for the natives, most people don't know about the Petersburg branch and the Muleshoe.  Are you from the area or is your knowledge based on the Trains article?  In any case you have captured very well the essence of the Petersburg and Mulshoe.

In either my junior or senior year in high school, which would have been 1956 or 1957, the PRR hosted a fan trip from Altoona to Petersburg, then to Holidaysburg on the Petersburg Branch, Gallitizen over the Muleshoe, and back to Altoona on the mainline.  A K4 or K5 pulled us from Altoona to Petersburg or Huntington and E7s, I believe, powered the remainder of the trip.  

[ACY Tom]

In addition to the mainline, the Pittsburgh Division also included the "Muleshoe Curve" line, a single-track line that bypassed Horseshoe Curve to the south, and (very roughly) followed the original inclined planes that served the canal system before the railroad came. It connected with the mainline at the east end of the Gallitzin tunnels and ran downgrade to Wye Tower, at Duncansville. The eastern end of the Pittsburgh Division mainline was at Altoona; the eastern end of the Muleshoe line was at Wye Tower. Altoona to Wye was part of the Hollidaysburg & Petersburg branch, which was part of the Middle Division. I've never heard of anybody including the Muleshoe line on a model layout. You could be the first if you have the space and the inclination. A 1957 article from Trains Magazine covers the Pittsburgh Division pretty well.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Altoona in the late 40s through the middle 50s.  As I remember it, which may not be a good as I think, since it was a long time ago, the Altoona Mirror printed the Standing of the Crews every day. Altoona was a crew change point for the freight and passenger trains.

Altoona to Pitcairn or Pittsburgh was referred to, at least by the locals, as I remember it, as the Pittsburgh Division.  Altoona to Enola or Harrisburg it was called the Middle Divison. When this changed, as per other posts, I don't remember.

How the world has changed.  In 1957, the year that I graduated from high school, there were approximately 38 passenger train movements a day through Altoona.  My mother and I frequently went down to the station late at night to watch the westbound premium trains (General, Spirit of St. Louis, Broadway Limited, etc.) go through. At Altoona they got new crews. And they got helper locomotives to help them get up the mountain to Galitizin.  I remember watching them on many an evening back down and couple onto the E7s and E8s that pulled the Tuscan Red varnish.  I don't remember the models, although I believe they were Alco locomotives. My father and my brother thought that mother and I were nuts, but we did not let it bother us. My mother liked trains as much as I do.

[timz]

Looks like PRR didn't have "subdivisions". Horseshoe Curve was on the Pittsburgh Div until sometime in 1961-64 when the Allegheny Div took over.

[PNWRMNM]

From Triumph I by Charles S. Roberts I find three railroad created drawings labeled "Western Pennsylvania Division, Pittsburgh Division, p 122 p 178 & p181, all dated 1930's. A 1941 traffic density map refers to it as Pittsburgh Division, Central Region.

Mac

[timz]

Now that you mention it, I don't think PRR empl timetables used the term "subdivision". It was the Pittsburgh Division, then the Pittsburgh Region starting about 1956, and the timetable page just said "Main Line Altoona to Pittsburgh" or some such thing.

[GP-9_Man11786]

Which subdivision were Horseshoe Curve and The Galitizin Tunnels located on back when Pennsy was running the show. I asking because I model that section of the line and would like a less-generic nae for my layout.