...Good vantage point to see action on old Pennsy.

[Modelcar]

...This past Sunday before Memorial Day we visited the Johnstown Incline Plane restaurant and lookout point. During the time to have a meal I was treated to seeing 6 through trains on the east-west NS line which is very visible from the restaurant which is roughly 700-800 ft. above Johnstown and of course the railroad as it passes through.

If anyone cares to see rail action under these conditions this is the place to visit. Most were container trains but one was an east bound loaded coal train and for those interested, it had 3 pushers on the rear of the train as it made it's way to the summit at Gallitzin and through the tunnel.

There was also a work train...{Maybe Herzog}, not sure, but it was a dozen or so loaded hoppers with a high lift loader straddled on top of the cars unloading what I believe must have been ballast as it worked very slowly west....All interesting.

[CShaveRR]

Thanks, Quentin! I don't remember a restaurant at the top of the inclined plane, though I was up there as a kid and later took my own family to that view.

Although the trains are too distant for the way I like to watch 'em, I will delight in going to the restaurant (and the incline) again, should I ever set foot in western Pennsylvania.

[Modelcar]

...Yes, it's really a nice spot. They constructed a vantage point lookout and restaurant and...big windows you can look right into the machinery room that is running the Incline Plane Cars....All very historical and interesting. The tables are placed one can look right out over the city and hence the old Pennsy as it passes the Johnstown depot, etc....

[dwil89]

We were not too far from each other on Sunday, Modelcar! While you were up on the Inclined Plane, I was up in Woodvale (near Conemaugh) with a few local railfan friends of mine watching trains...I caught that worktrain..it had an NS highhood SD40-2 for power..it was dropping ties along Track 1 out toward Conpit....

[Modelcar]

...Yes, that makes more sense Dave...instead of ballast. Have seen that kind of operation before. Using the straddling high lift to remove the ties from the cars and place them along the ROW..

One never knows just which of us railfans might be near when we visit near rail sights and such a location that I was visiting. Used to stay in the Holiday Inn Hotel downtown Johnstown when we visited the area but now have been using the Hampton Inn in Somerset when we're in the area.

Had a nice visit at the Incline Plane location....Sure is a nice view of the valley especially sitting at a window table and just taking it all in across the Johnstown valley.

Didn't ride the Incline this time but have several times these past few years.

Years ago while in the Penn Traffic store having lunch in the cafeteria one could hear the rail activity which was right behind the store....The C & BL RR serving the Mills. Not very much of that activity left anymore I imagine.

I heard while home in the area rumblings of the Freight Car America, Johnstown works wanting concessions in money from workers and also the threat of moving the operation to another location....Hope they can settle that problem and keep the freight car business in the Johnstown valley....

[dwil89]

I've ridden the Inclined Plane a few times, as well as dined at that Restaurant seated right by the windows looking down at Johnstown and the railroad....Looking out from the viewing platform adjacent to the Plane is a nice view as well ...Yesterday..June 1st marked 7 years since NS officially took over operations from Conrail on the Pittsburgh Line.

[Modelcar]

...I enjoy visiting the Johnstown area each year.....Hope to do so again this summer a bit later. Used to visit up on the platforms there at the old Pennsy Station....{By the way did you ever notice the gold leaf letters up on the station "Pennsylania Railroad", I believe is what it says....Haven't seen it for a few years close now. Have boarded Amtrak there too for a few runs. Also I started my tour of duty in the far east for Uncle Sam over 50 years ago from those station platforms.
Judging from the activity I witnessed in just an hour or so the route seems to be rather busy....and this was on a holiday weekend.

[dwil89]

Yes it was busy...I was in town from early Saturday morning until Tuesday morning.....I hiked in to an overlook over Horseshoe Curve on Ssturday morning and caught 15 trains in roughly three and a half hours there from late morning into early afternoon...(you can see a pic that I took from that spot at Horseshoe on the coverpage of the Altoona-Johnstown Group link)Sunday was quite good also as far as traffic....Monday started out slow...I spent some time on Monday at Cassandra and Summerhill, then ended up at Lilly in early afternoon when traffic exploded...one train after another...They had speed restrictions up on both sides of the Mountain on Monday so MOW could inspect for possible heat kinks. Once those restrictions were lifted in mid-afternoon, the show began in earnest...

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

...This past Sunday before Memorial Day we visited the Johnstown Incline Plane restaurant and lookout point. During the time to have a meal I was treated to seeing 6 through trains on the east-west NS line which is very visible from the restaurant which is roughly 700-800 ft. above Johnstown and of course the railroad as it passes through.

.

Glad you had an enjoyable trip, and made it back safely. The sights you mention sound appealing.

How does the weather there compare to the rest of the surrounding areas? Does the elevation mean cooler temperatures, or about the same as everywhere else?

[dwil89]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TheAntiGates

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

...This past Sunday before Memorial Day we visited the Johnstown Incline Plane restaurant and lookout point. During the time to have a meal I was treated to seeing 6 through trains on the east-west NS line which is very visible from the restaurant which is roughly 700-800 ft. above Johnstown and of course the railroad as it passes through.

.

Glad you had an enjoyable trip, and made it back safely. The sights you mention sound appealing.

How does the weather there compare to the rest of the surrounding areas? Does the elevation mean cooler temperatures, or about the same as everywhere else?

Though this question was posed to Modelcar, I can chime in on this one too... Altoona is roughly 1200 feet above sea level. Gallitzin, twelve rail miles West, and the top of the grade is roughly 2200 feet...25 miles West of Gallitzin is Johnstown at 1180 feet.....During the hottest days of Summer, it might be a few degrees cooler then what you'd find at lower elevations such as Harrisburg or Philadelphia....in later Summer, nights can be refreshingly cool especially compared to lower elevations.....In Winter, it can be partly sunny in Altoona, and snowing hard at Gallitzin through Lilly as lake effect snows off Lake Erie often fall, though not to the depths that are seen closer to the Lakes in extreme Northwest Pa,

[Modelcar]

...Yes, Dave has given a good overview of weather situations in that area....Our home area is 20 miles south of Johnstown....A little town on rt. 30, Stoystown...A very old community. Settled by Daniel Stoy roughly 1778. A bunch of history in the area. That location is about 2200' in elevation. I have noted in several listings the temp difference average is roughly 5 degrees cooler in that area to here in Muncie. Our airport is 937' ele. so that does make a bit of difference. I like the Johnstown area and fun for me to return to visit. Of course it's my home area and that makes a difference. AntiGates...there is really lots of interesting rail locations in the area as Dave has listed. Of course Horseshoe Curve is a old historic location opened in 1854 to get the Pennsylvania RR up and over the Alleghenies with the help of the tunnels up at the summit at Gallitzin.