Nostalgia & History > Horseshoe Curve 1954 - 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2004

Contacts: Scott Cessna (for Railroaders Heritage Corp.)
(814) 946-0834
director@railroadcity.com

Rudy Husband (for Norfolk Southern)
(610) 567-3377
rudy.husband@ns-direct.com

Constance Carlson (for OSRAM SYLVANIA)
(845) 223-1950
constance@greystonepartners.net


CALLING ALL BIG SHOTS – IF YOU WERE AT THE ‘54 FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY EVENT AT HORSESHOE CURVE, SYLVANIA WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU

Your Stories, Souvenirs and Other Memorabilia Will Help
“Capture that Moment in History”
For Horseshoe Curve’s 150th Anniversary July 4th

DANVERS, MASS., April 30, 2004 – If you were one of the thousands of workers and spectators who participated in the SYLVANIA Big Shot event that took place at the Horseshoe Curve in Altoona, Penn. on October 20, 1954, lighting leader OSRAM SYLVANIA wants to hear from you.

“We’re hoping a number of individuals will come forward to help us capture that moment in history,” said Michael Colotti, vice president of brand management and marketing communications, OSRAM SYLVANIA. “We’re looking for stories, photos, souvenirs and other memorabilia from folks who witnessed the event that was heralded as the largest photoflash project of all time. We’re hoping to make contact with these people, and if we use their material, we’d like to invite them to attend the spectacular, July 4th celebration that we’re planning at Horseshoe Curve to commemorate its 150th anniversary this year.”

Colotti noted that OSRAM SYLVANIA is joining the Railroaders Memorial Museum, Norfolk Southern Railroad, the Hite Company and a number of local sponsors to create a major evening spectacular featuring some of the most technologically innovative lighting products today. OSRAM SYLVANIA and Norfolk Southern will provide technology, equipment and sizzle for the celebration of this major transportation and engineering milestone in American history. Entertainment will be provided the entire day both at the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona and Horseshoe Curve, culminating with the lighting of Horseshoe Curve and a display from Zambelli Fireworks Internationale – the “First Family of Fireworks.”

The 1954 event at Horseshoe Curve was the sixth of 18 ‘Big Shot’ events sponsored by SYLVANIA Electric Products Co. – a predecessor company of OSRAM SYLVANIA -- from 1951 to 1969 and featured the simultaneous deployment of more than 6,500 SYLVANIA Blue Dot flashbulbs.

Colotti added that participants of the Big Shot event of 1954 at Horseshoe Curve should contact OSRAM SYLVANIA no later than May 31, 2004, providing their contact information (name, address, phone) and a 300-word maximum account of what brought them to the event, where they were located during the time and what they remember. They should also indicate whether they have any photography or other memorabilia they can lend to the Railroaders Memorial Museum for a special display planned for the Horseshoe Curve 150th anniversary celebration. Respondents should send their submissions by mail to Horseshoe Curve, c/o Greystone Partners, 2678 South Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 or e-mail horseshoecurve@greystonepartners.net.

The focal point of the 150th anniversary celebration of Horseshoe Curve is its engineering marvel. In 1854, an enterprising young civil engineer named J. Edgar Thomson opened the first railway to scale the mighty Allegheny Mountains in Central Pennsylvania. To avoid a sharp incline, which would be impossible for heavy steam trains to manage, Thomson routed the right-of-way in a horseshoe shape, so the rise would be gradual. The feat was considered a major engineering masterpiece at the time and was pivotal to opening commerce across the continental U.S. The American Society of Civil Engineers recently recognized Horseshoe Curve as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

About Railroaders Heritage Corporation
Railroaders Heritage Corporation is a not-for-profit organization established in 1972 with offices in Altoona, PA. The Corporation owns and operates two significant historic sites in the Altoona area – the Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark and the Railroaders Memorial Museum. It is the mission of the Railroaders Heritage Corporation to reveal, interpret, commemorate and celebrate the significant contributions of railroaders and their families to American life, past and present. Please visit us at www.railroadcity.com.

About Norfolk Southern Corporation
Norfolk Southern Corporation is one of the nation's premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates 21,500 route miles in 22 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, serving every major container port in the eastern United States and providing superior connections to western rail carriers. NS operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is the nation's largest rail carrier of automotive parts and finished vehicles. For further information, please visit our Web site at www.nscorp.com.

About OSRAM SYLVANIA
Headquartered in Danvers, Mass., OSRAM SYLVANIA is the North American lighting operation of OSRAM GmbH. Together we are the second-largest lighting and materials enterprise in the world, serving customers in more than 140 countries. We manufacture and market a wide range of lighting products, including automotive, electronic and magnetic ballasts, and precision materials and components for industrial and commercial users, original equipment manufacturers and consumers, sold primarily under the SYLVANIA brand name, but also under the OSRAM brand. OSRAM SYLVANIA also offers lighting systems installation and maintenance services. For further information, please refer to our Web site at www.sylvania.com.

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