My Boy Scout trip to Altoona (with links to pictures and update on new members of the Hobby)

[Anonymous]

I just got back from leading my old boy scout trip to Altoona. This plan was in conjunction with the railroad merit badge. I spent the last month before summer teaching the course then the Grande Finale(pun intended) was a trip the the horseshoe curve and the railfanning the rest of the areas around Altoona.

We spent the morning at the curve. It started slow with two trains down the grade went into emergency. Once that was all sorted out we got a parade of trrains. Six in 15 minutes including an amtrak train. After that we went down to Gallitzen. We saw a couple trains come out of the tunnel and got a tour of the caboose there and musuem by the local historian. He was very friendly and even taught me some things.

The next stop was Cresson. On the way there we were lucky enough to catch a Loram railgrinder. This was a real treat for everyone, and lots of pictures were taken. Then it was off to Cresson where we watched a string of Westbound trains parade past us. At this location the scouts built models for their merit badge. Pictures of those can be seen on the link on the bottom of the page. Some had trouble but all finished them and they have something to remember the trip by.

The next stop was Cassandra. This was the big hit of the day. The scouts enjoyed being able to stand over the locomotives as they struggled up the grade. After dinner at the state of the art Sheetz gas station plus resturaunt. Then it was off to Juniata shops. We were lucky enough to find the turntable and then even luckier when the workers put on a show and moved the trackmobile on the turntable. So thanks to the workers at juniata shops for doing that for us.

Our last stop was Johnstown where we watched the Lightening from the incline Plane. Over all it was a great trip and hopefully the scouts hav gained respect and enjoy Railroads.

Pictures can be found at: http://community.webshots.com/album/429173895LUDkaQ
Andrew

[cheese3]

Nice pics, and those are some nice models! I got RR merit badge about two years ago, I am going to use your example and suggest a trip so more of us can get the badge.

[Anonymous]

I remember when I was a boy scout and got the Boy's Life mag, they had an HO train set in some of the issues, must of been like 1972-74? I would read and re-read that same one over and over and over thinking of how cool it would be to own it [:p]

[Anonymous]

1st thanks for taking time to serve our Youth and hopefully future MRR's

2nd I remember that series in Boys Life. I thought that was the coolest layout ever. If I remember right it was 5x9 instead of the normal 4x8. All I know is I could never afford so much track and trunouts to ever built it at that time. I too wore the pages out on that series. I wonder have they ever done something similar since then. Dave

[howmus]

Isn't it great to be able to have fun and serve our nation's youth at the same time! Glad you had a good trip. I got my old troop to go for a weekend outing to Steamtown 3 years ago with the same idea of them earning the MB. It is certainly one of my favorite Merit Badged to teach! [:)]

[howmus]

By the way were those the projects for the MB the Scouts were showing off? Hope they all earned Railroading MB by the end of the trip. By the way did they all see and figure out FRED?

[Anonymous]

Andrew,

Nice photos of the curve thats the one place I really want to see. I hope you had a fun time on your trip ;ooks like it by the smile on your face in that one shot. How many ideas did you come away from that trip with for your layout? Good for you to help out with the scouts too.

[Anonymous]

Horseshoe Curve is one of the places that I hope to go to someday. I really like the photos that you posted. I hope you had a good time there.

[Anonymous]

howmus- For the most part they all earned their merit badge on the trip. We had a scout or two miss a meeting before we broke for summer and they have one or two more rerquirements to finish. There is one requirement that is not official but I think is the one that will get them into the hobby the most more so than any building kit and that is to operate a layout. So I have to get my sidings in and troubleshoot the track so they can come over and run mine.

NS railfan- It's a trip that will surely be worth it. There are raiilfan hotels (how great is that) in the area one at gallitzen and one in cresson that have porchs that overlook the tracks. The horseshoe curve is the main attraction but there are many other places that are just as photogenic and easily accesible. The city's around the tracks have realized they can draw railfans into their citys and it benifits us the most. The town of cassandra's mayor owns a railfan "store and hotel" and hosts all night railfan night once a month. This area is a railfans dream.

Thanks all for the nice comments. I'll confess that there was some greed in taken this trip. Though what got me excited the most was the kids faces when they jumped up to go watch a train rumble by.

Trip to Altoona- Under $50
Watching a new generation of railfans emerge-Priceless

Andrew

[Anonymous]

Tonight was the boy scout kick off dinner. it was nice to see the kids again and what they got out of the trip. They were all sharing E-mail address so they could share the pictures they took. A lot of them asked if I could take them on another trip and to run on my layout. One had went shopping at our LHS and two had dusted off their old train set and started running it again. So expect to see a couple scouts from tallmadge ohio to be populating the list again.
Andrew