Eastern Railroad Discussion > Re Horseshoe Curve

A few days ago, a thread was started regarding the foliage condition at Horseshoe Curve in Altoona.....The foliage has grown in considerably after a brush and tree clearing project in 2004-2005.

A link to a present day Horseshoe Curve webcam......The angle is limited owing to the growth of foliage...Might be my computer, but the playback quality of the webcam is choppy...with video lagging behind the audio....

http://www.railroadcity.com/info/live-feed/

Dave Williams



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/14 07:51 by dwi189.

dwi189 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A few days ago, a thread was started regarding the
> foliage condition at Horseshoe Curve in
> Altoona.....The foliage has grown in considerably
> after a brush and tree clearing project in
> 2004-2005.
>
> A link to a present day Horseshoe Curve
> webcam......The angle is limited owing to the
> growth of foliage...Might be my computer, but the
> playback quality of the webcam is choppy...with
> video lagging behind the audio....
>
> http://www.railroadcity.com/info/live-feed/
>
> Dave Williams


Both worked fine for me.

It is a little grown over with trees and weeds. Whats up with all of the Porta - Potties in the view from the museum?

When I was there in July there was an irate German tourist
looking for his money back because of all the foliage and
restricted viewing. I think he had a point.

Although I realize that it's probably not their responsibility, would it be just as easy for NS's MOW crews to come around track one some morning w/ chainsaws and take care of that? Perhaps the state could reimburse them for the work. I'm guessing the foliage is not part of NS's right-away ..... or is it?

reel_smooth Wrote:
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> Although I realize that it's probably not their
> responsibility, would it be just as easy for NS's
> MOW crews to come around track one some morning w/
> chainsaws and take care of that? Perhaps the state
> could reimburse them for the work. I'm guessing
> the foliage is not part of NS's right-away .....
> or is it?

I don't know how far down the Slope NS owns outside of the park boundaries...The enbankment was created as part of the construction of the railroad so wouldn't the enbankment outside of the park area be on RR property? Dave W

Posted from Android

reel_smooth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Although I realize that it's probably not their
> responsibility, would it be just as easy for NS's
> MOW crews to come around track one some morning w/
> chainsaws and take care of that? Perhaps the state
> could reimburse them for the work. I'm guessing
> the foliage is not part of NS's right-away .....
> or is it?

I don't think that responsibility would fall under the state either, seeing as HSC is a National Historic Landmark. I could be mistaken, but I believe NHL's fall under US Park Service. Although since HSC is privately owned by the museum, I believe the onus is on them to reach out to the Park Service for assistance with this issue.

I suppose if a petition was started to the PA Governor's Office, MAYBE you could get enough signatures to get some downward pressure on the museum to get things back under control. But petitions are not as effective as they once were.

Wasn't the 1990s clearing project a joint effort of the NS, the museum volunteers of the time, and the Park Service?

That might alleviate some of the issues about who can do what work on the site. A little cooperation can go a long way.

(Whether NS wants to attract more people to the Curve isn't clear to me. If it draws trespassers away from MG, etc that's probably a good thing. If the clearing causes people to decide to go on to MG, etc it could be a bad thing.)

Acting like a bunch of whiny babies.

It would be nice if all the trees were trimmed back, but as long as I have been going to the Curve, the trees have always been there. You have to realize what a monumental job it would be to keep the trees below the sight lines. No easy task.

I enjoy going to the Curve no matter what as the sights and sounds are hard to beat at a location that is a public park where you can hang out as long as you want (ignoring conveniently the 'official' closing time of the park).

irate?? give me a break.

I'd think that the museum would have to spearhead that endeavor. Interesting to look a photos through the years though. Back in the steam days you could see everything, I figure that between spraying and the cinders/gases from the steam engines kept vegetation from growing. Over the years trees grow and no need for the RR to kill the stuff along the tracks so it gets to where it is now. I remember the time they cleared things out, it wasn't an easy task and I bet it just wouldn't be cost effective now.

Maybe someone on here Win the Mega Millions or Powerball could Pay to get Trees Cut down for good.

P Wrote:
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> Acting like a bunch of whiny babies.
>
> It would be nice if all the trees were trimmed
> back, but as long as I have been going to the
> Curve, the trees have always been there. You have
> to realize what a monumental job it would be to
> keep the trees below the sight lines. No easy
> task.
>
> I enjoy going to the Curve no matter what as the
> sights and sounds are hard to beat at a location
> that is a public park where you can hang out as
> long as you want (ignoring conveniently the
> 'official' closing time of the park).
>
> irate?? give me a break.


Were the trees always there?? Yes. Do I think it is as nice as it used to be?? NO!! One of the reasons I didn't stop there on my last trip is because you are basically paying for a limited view. And I won't even discuss trying to take pics there......!!!!

As for cutting the trees: If memory serves me correctly, the last time NS tried trimming the trees there was a dispute involving disturbing certain wildlife patterns........so I'm not expecting it to happen anytime soon.

The Curve is a wonderful place for sound, not so much for photography. There are better photo/video places within a 20-30 minutes drive

Somebody could probably make a few bucks renting camera drones to photographers at the Curve. There's a perfect example of a place those could be used to great effect without getting any property owners or pilots bent out of shape about it.

toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Somebody could probably make a few bucks renting
> camera drones to photographers at the Curve.
> There's a perfect example of a place those could
> be used to great effect without getting any
> property owners or pilots bent out of shape about
> it.


That would be a UNIQUE perspective.....!!!

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Curve is a wonderful place for sound, not so
> much for photography. There are better
> photo/video places within a 20-30 minutes drive


Have to agree. Of the numerous "legal" locations
on the east and west slopes, the Curve, IMHO, ranks
dead last. (And all of the others are free.)

ns1000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> toledopatch Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Somebody could probably make a few bucks
> renting
> > camera drones to photographers at the Curve.
> > There's a perfect example of a place those
> could
> > be used to great effect without getting any
> > property owners or pilots bent out of shape
> about
> > it.
>
>
> That would be a UNIQUE perspective.....!!!

If I thought it would be practical for me to go into such a business, I probably would have kept the idea to myself. ;)

As for HSC, my basis predates the park mentality. Ever since then, my interest has waned, whether it be the commercial aspect or photographic options...

John R -- CP Spring
Carlisle, PA

I've been going to the Curve ever since my dad took my there when I was a teenager. The excess foliage comes and goes, but it has always been and will continue to be a special place to see and hear trains.

Here are a couple of photos I took while I stopped at the Curve for an hour on a pleasant afternoon nine days ago.

---

---

My first trip to the curve was early 1960s. At that time, and for about 15 years after the steam engine cinders were so deep you could sink your feet in the cinders a foot or more. They did then keep the brush back. About the Conrail years it had become somewhat overgrown but CR cut a lot of it back for good maintenance reasons. Over time we went to MP241, a mile below Horseshoe but a place where you had no crowds, steps etc. Even took my pop-up camper there several times. Once we had a real feast there. And once we saw a downbound train somehow get a knuckle and the slack action reaction to that was incredible. The Raod Foreman came up and we got a good look at it, I took a slide. At that time no one cared we were there. But after they took up the third track things changed. A few years later we were kicked out by a Conrail cop named Delozier. He didn't even care that we were Conrail employees, plus some guests.

Several of us complained about it after we got back to Philly CR HQ but got the usual Conrail BS cop comment. I've never been back. I've got my train notes, most important, and some slides, none of which would be good enuf for Yanosey. I've gone to the Station Inn several times, but for me that is a dissapointment. One out of four times I've got a view of the railroad. I sit and log trains, I want to learn what they are carrying, and really don't care what engines they have now. I've got logs and shots of a lot better stuff. But that is just my opinion.

The places were got in to in the sixties on PRR and B&O and WM and RFP, etc are no more. They are gated off, overgrown, covered by expressways, etc. But the steamers did keep the brush down way back then.

You Cant change the trees being over grown, weeds..... Ns is a railroad in for the money n moving of goods. Not cutting weeds. I been to HSC (in general) a lot. The best view is early spring time or late fall.....

And the property lube in the inner side is NS but the park is wedged in the center. Outer side is so far from track 3 n into the hills then it's PA Game Land

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/14 20:07 by easternrailvideos.