Nostalgia & History > A Day at Altoona, Forty Years Ago

The railfan trip my new wife and I took to Altoona in March, 1970, gave us just one full day in town, which turned out to be gray and overcast (further fuddled by a partial eclipse that afternoon)--rough on the color photography but okay for B&W.

Photo 1. Eastbound train No. 54, the Pennsylvania Limited, is a pale shadow if its onetime greatness as it slips down around Horseshoe Curve behind former PRR and NYC E-units. The train is a mix of former PRR and NYC equipment, including a former PRR bagagge express car, an ex-NYC Budd-built "Valley" series 10 roomette/6 double bedroom sleeper, an ex-PRR P70 coach, and a former NYC Pullman-Standard built lightweight coach.

Photo 2. The westbound Duquesne, train No. 25, sits by the 100-year old Altoona depot awaiting departure. Most of the cars visible in the photo are of PRR ancestry.

Photo 3. The young lady railfan on the right, my bride of less than two months, has apparently completed getting her shots of No. 25's head end.

Art House
Gettysburg, Pa.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/10 10:48 by aehouse.

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Art, now that's when Altoona looked like a railroad town!
Ed K. cp Laurel Run

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Art, my bride to be at Horseshoe Curve in 1963.
Ed K.

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Interesting series.

The partial solar eclipse you mentioned was March 7, 1970.

Bob

bnsfbob Wrote:
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> Interesting series.
>
> The partial solar eclipse you mentioned was March
> 7, 1970.
>
> Bob


Thanks. That allows me to date the views, because my notes on the prints only reference the month and year.

Art

Art:

You posted a nice set of pictures which also remind me why I never get nostalgic for the Penn Central. Three E-units on a four-car train, the crumbling passenger platform and the deteriorating yard are indicative of the general decrepitude of the Penn Central.

Good for you to include the Altoona station. It was demolished by 1973.

RuleG Wrote:
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> Art:
>
> You posted a nice set of pictures which also
> remind me why I never get nostalgic for the Penn
> Central. Three E-units on a four-car train, the
> crumbling passenger platform and the deteriorating
> yard are indicative of the general decrepitude of
> the Penn Central.
>
> Good for you to include the Altoona station. It
> was demolished by 1973.

I was never so glad to see a railroad come to an end as I was to see Penn Central fall. Too bad it had to take so many other interesting railroads (LV, EL, RDG, LHR) down with it. I never chased the PC much, but as a passenger fan, they were about the only game left in the northeast other than D&H. If I wanted to see passenger trains, I had to go to PC. Of course Amtrak brought even that to a close.

Art