Norfolk Southern's Climb Through the Allegheny Mountains
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ส.ค. 2020
- -*Corrections: I do my best to provide accurate information in all of my videos, but I'm not perfect and errors definitely slip through from time to time!
- The first train can't be 212 based on it's location and direction.
- NS 7241, 7245, and 7253 were originally SD90MACs under Union Pacific ownership but were rebuilt into SD70ACUs.
Norfolk Southern’s climb through the Allegheny Mountains of Central Pennsylvania features some of the most exciting and picturesque railfanning locations in the United States. Stretching from Conemaugh Yard, just east of Johnstown, PA, to Rose Yard in Altoona, PA, this 40-mile section of track presents an enormous challenge to the railroad, resulting in some of the most unique and fascinating railfanning locations in the country.
In this video, we begin at Conemaugh Yard in East Conemaugh, PA, and work our way east to Altoona, PA, stopping at the most popular railfan destinations along the way. Locations in this video include Conemaugh Yard, South Fork, Summerhill, Cassandra, Lilly (Carney’s Crossing), Cresson, Gallitzin, Horseshoe Curve, the Brickyard Crossing, the Altoona Amtrak station, the Juniata Locomotive Shop, and Rose Yard.
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Equipment:
- Video Camera: Canon VIXIA HF G50
- Drone: DJI Mavic Pro
- Microphone: Rode VideoMicro
Music: www.purple-planet.com
![Cajon Pass [BNSF's Cajon Subdivision]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/z4HR53Yjcmk/mqdefault.jpg)
I traveled Amtrak from NYC to Greensburg in 2013 and I can say not only does Pennsylvania offer some of the most intense railroad activity but some of the most beautiful scenery to go along with it. Great video.
I really like watching all the train video on TH-cam
Another classic for the books! Done very well with super drone action also! Keep them coming.
For those of us who regularly watch HSC from the VRF POV, the ATV POV was a real treat! And I always like when you add drone footage. Would still love to see drone videos going around the bend at each end of the curve. The trains always just disappear. Love all your videos!
I agree - would love to se what the next terrain encountered after the trains disappear from VRF view looks like. Great video!
I like all the sd70ace/m2/acc emd power NS has now. Great video. I liked all the info you added with your narration.
This video is great! Love the narration, editing, all of it. Thanks for sharing.
Fun to watch. Well done. This was my home road as I worked for Penn Central & Conrail up here from '69 - '89 before moving to Philadelphia and the 3rd railroad ownership change to Norfolk Southern; all 40 years working in the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Department. "What a long strange trip its been."
Thanks for the great video. My parents took me to see Horseshoe Curve about 54-55 years ago. I was in awe. I am sort of jealous that you got to spend so much time there. I have to go back - someday!
Definite "thumbs up" on this video. One of the best I have seen. Verbally a great documentary and very well described. Look forward to new postings. Thank you! Great effort!
Luckely it is just 1 at the moment.
Excellent video ....Very informative....Mr . David
Current time 12:04 am June 25, 2024. Enjoyed the Allegheny videos of western PA. I have ridden thru Horseshoe Curve about 5 times on passenger trains.
I'm very familiar with this terratory and your coverage and great photography is greatly appreciared
Wow an amazing experience to capture the meet between two units!
Very good clip,and the best I have viewed.
Really great video. I find that whole section of the NS rail system very fascinating and try to watch any video I can. Great work!!!
David, this was a great video. It is going to help immensely with an upcoming rail-fan trip I plan on making in Sept. All of the locations I want to hit are in it!
Hello there Aquadan! Nice to see a familiar face from the VRF chat
Wow, that's a busy rail line. Pulling and laying a lot of rail in that area of the country.
I watch and listen to your explanation David lauback, very interested to see how the cargo trains ride the tracks overthere in the Allegheny mountains in the state of Pennsylvania. I love American trains and from this wellknown Norfolk climb in the mountains. Famous and well known is that Shoehorse place. keep the good work going David lauback. I watch this video from abroad in Paramaribo - Suriname
What a wonderful video!!!
My hello from Lyon city in France!
Great video very educational on the line.👍 thanks
Loved the video it helped me plan my next railfan trip to Pennsylvania. I usually only come up to visit Horseshoe Curve. Bur always here other Railfans talking about other spots like Brick yard crossing, Cresson and so on. It's helped me alot and I thank you.
I appreciate the video-location info for each shot.
Amazing video of this line!
Thx for the video, been to horseshoe 3 times, awesome to learn more about it!
I enjoyed your video if you send me another one like this one I will share the information with my friend that got me involved in watching trains please keep up the good work and please be safe God bless you can keep up the good work
Great video.
Great video
Great video and excellent information thank you i learn a lot about that area.i used to go by there on a tractor trailer and see them going down the curve and pulling it from route 2.which we used it to route 30 to interstate 70.
That s route 22 not 2 thank u
Excellent video! I bought a house in Lilly PA so I'm able to watch the main line from my front porch all day and night; 20 ft from it just for this purpose. Love it!! The helpers are now SD70ACU'S
Your house is in the perfect location for railfanning! And yes, shortly after I posted the video I realized that the helpers are now SD70ACUs, so I added a correction to the video's description.
great video from a Sottish fan.
used to watch these conrails come through the pitt.... good fellas
Very informative documentary very interesting wish regular interstates were this efficient.
Very well done 👍
Nice shots! Would like to visit the curve someday.
Thank you for your time and persistence, but i have no seen 1 Amtrak train. Top video!
awesome
Good job and I don't consider myself a "railfan". Your video makes me want to go there with the kids (never heard of those places before).
Nice A Good Job
My school is in this video, at the tunnels you see a brown building and that is my school!!!
I've shot many a photo from the bridge in Gallitzin and from across the way from the observation deck of the Tunnel inn. but never went under the bridge.
Groovy job! I've always enjoyed your videos and your voice is so mellow, the History Channel should offer you a job to cover railroading history, etc... with your degree of knowledge. Keep up the good work and swell video.
Great video while you were up on that hill at the curve you should have gone Down the trail to the old water tower shed. No one has ever videoed it. I would love to see whats left of it. I can see it in the winter videos .
You're right, I should have thought to capture some close-up shots of that old water storage unit! It's really neat to see when you're on the trail!
When I was a little girl, I fell asleep at night, and woke early each morning to the sound of a distant train. 🚆🚉🚄🚋🚈🚅 It sometimes stopped at the Ford factory 🏭 that was 3 to 5 miles from our house 🏠. The sound 9f the train rumbling down the tracks was very soothing to me, except when the brakes squealed to a halt at the Ford plant. That eerie distant squeal was super scary 😨for me, because I didn't know what it was. Since growing up and moving away from home 🏡, I have always been happy to live somewhere where I could hear a train, whether is was in the distance, as in childhood days, or 50ft from our front door, as it was during our first year of marriage. I love that rental the most, even though the trains that passed quarterly throughout the day were so loud, you couldn't hear what was on TV, even if you cranked the volume as high as it would go. My husband and I would laugh, and improvise what we thought the actors were saying, and we always made it into something comical and completely unrelated to that particular show or movie. My husband was in construction, 🚧 so we moved 4 to 6 times a year as we followed the jobs, so our homes were temporary, and not much to look at, but they were clean and comfortable enough, and we had more important things on our young minds in those days. So my favorite little one bedroom trailer would begin to vibrate and tremble, then rattle and shake as the train got closer. It just made our quirky days that much more fun. We would place bets on whether or not the upcoming train was going to make our Salt Shaker rattle enough to walk off the edge of the table, and watch the race between salt and pepper, to see which would go the furthest. That place had no AC, so we left the door wide open in hopes we'd catch a breeze. Some days, as we sat there watching TV after dinner, we'd catch movement on the tracks, and hear singing instead of the clanging or squealing sound made by our 6:15 as it slowed before entering town. Looking up to see where the happy and somewhat out of tune singing came from, we'd spot old Tom on his special bike, riding the rails into town for a cold one with his girlfriend Dottie Sue. He had taken the tires off his bike and hammered the rims to fit perfect on the tracks. He didn't have to bother with steering, so he sat back a bit and relaxed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He had a little basket in the front, so sometimes he could be seen pedaling by and reaching in to grab a chicken leg 🍗, packed for him by Dottie Sue to take home for a late night snack. He'd salute us with that chicken leg, and we'd holler put a hello, as he whizzed by. We loved watching our friends react to spotting him for the first time if they came by to visit. We would also mess with their heads if we were in the middle of a conversation and a train zipped by. We moved our lips as if we were yelling without uttering a sound, and once the train passed one of us would actually yell out something utterly ridiculous, and the other would nod in agreeable as if suddenly yelling out ELEPHANT JUICE!! as the end of a sentence made perfect sense. We were so entertained by the looks of bewilderment on the faces of a guest. Or, if we were sitting at the table with a dinner guest, and we felt the faintest vibration of an upcoming train, I'd ask Bill was time it was. We didn't have a clock in the room, Bill had no watch, and this was way before cellphones were even heard of. Bill would do something ridiculous like look inside the refrigerator or inside his shoe, and announce the time, usually within no more than 3 minutes. If we timed this game just right, it would be hilarious. First, our guest had to have a watch so they could double check, and secondly, their hands should be full so they couldn't answer before Bill did. Then, after announcing the time, I'd thank him, and we would get back to eating as if what he just did was perfectly normal. Then, he would stomp his foot on the floor, shake his head and say he thinks his shoe must be a little fast. Then he'd ask our friend what time they had. Sometimes, if there was enough beer or wine served with dinner, we could catch the same friend twice with that game, only using a different " clock" each time. No matter how many times we did it, none of our friends actually figured out that the "clock" game, was actually was timing the train that was always right on time.
Excuse me for rambling on so much. But those were some of my best days, and trains were a big part of them. I hope you got a chuckle or two from it. I certainly did as it happened. 😊🤣😅🛣
🚂🚃🚃🚋🚋🚃🚉🛤
Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed reading through your memories of trains!
This helps me understand the elevation changes along this section of tracks. Do yo know where to view the east end of Gallitzin tunnel? I found a section of the slide but not the other end of tunnel. Would like to see drone shot above tunnel showing entrance and exiting of same train. Great Video, thanks!
I've never been to the east end of the tunnel before. From what I understand it's much more difficult to access. I'd love to check it out one day though!
may I use some of your videos for my video about the HC? ill of course credit you. The quality is great, keep it up!
Thanks! And yes, I would be more than happy to allow you to use some of my video for your video about Horseshoe Curve so long as you credit my channel. Just let me know how much you plan to use and what video you'll be using.
Derailment Clean up on Horseshoe not mentioned !
Dave. Do you have a fluid head tripod? If you don't, get one. If you do, use it. Think about how a person watches a train go by; they turn and follow it as it passes them. They don't just stare in one direction. Try using a fluid head tripod with your video cam and follow the trains as they go by. It takes some time to get smooth with it, but with practice, you and others will undoubtedly enjoy watching your videos even more. And, you will be able to mix static shots with motion shots; much more interesting and informative to watch.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Love your video David! The ATV trail that you speak about I have some questions. 1) can you drive up into it? 2) if not, how far to walk into the location? 3)does the trail begin from Veterans Memorial Hwy?
I'm glad you liked the video! It took me a couple years of exploring to figure out how to get to that ATV trail that overlooks the curve. I'm still not an expert, but as far as I know the closest access point is 2 or 3 miles east of the curve. There's a small road off Veterans Memorial Highway / Kittanning Point Road (I think those are two names for the same road but I could be wrong) that tunnels underneath the tracks and leads to the Altoona Sportsmen's Club. If you're on Kittanning Point Road, it’s near Matzik Automatic Transmission Service. If you look carefully, there’s a small sign on the south side of the road that says “Altoona Volunteer Sportsmen’s Association New Members Welcome.” Across the road from that sign (on the north side) is a narrow drive that eventually tunnels underneath the tracks. As far as I know this is the closest access point to the ATV trail. I don’t have an ATV, so I always just hiked the trail. It’s a long hike from there to the Curve, but if you enjoy hiking it’s well worth it. The cool part is that the trail is close to the tracks for much of the hike, so you can often see trains passing by while you’re hiking the trail.
@@DavidLauback thank you
Excellent videos. Do you like to railfan here or out on the Chicago Line in the Midwest more?
Good question! I enjoy both, but I would say railfanning out in Central Pennsylvania is more fun because it's much more scenic.
5:10 All pusher/helper units are now SD70ACUs not SD90MACs. If I recall NS doesn't have SD90MACs anymore in service on their tracks.
Yep, you're exactly right. I realized my mistake right after I published the video, so I added a correction in the description. Silly me, it even says SD70ACu right on the locomotives! 😂
@@DavidLauback Yeah lol
I know I'm a bit late to the party, but I saw the 2 dreailed cars on Horseshoe Curve (39:02). I know they had two derailments in July of 2019, and I'm wondering if those cars are from either of those derailments or from one I don't know about?
Fun fact for everyone actor Charles Bronson grew up in South Fork
Can a fan shoot the view shown at 39:57 without owning a drone ? This one of my favorite views at the curve, too bad its not still 4 tracks tho'.
Great question! The location I’m recording from is an ATV / off-road trail that extends quite a ways beyond that point. It took me a couple years of exploring the trails to figure out how to get to that overlook. I'm still not an expert, but as far as I know the closest access point is 2 or 3 miles east of the curve. There's a small road off Veterans Memorial Highway / Kittanning Point Road (I think those are two names for the same road but I could be wrong) that tunnels underneath the tracks and leads to the Altoona Sportsmen's Club. If you're on Kittanning Point Road, it’s near Matzik Automatic Transmission Service. If you look carefully, there’s a small sign on the south side of the road that says “Altoona Volunteer Sportsmen’s Association New Members Welcome.” Across the road from that sign (on the north side) is a narrow drive that eventually tunnels underneath the tracks. As far as I know this is the closest access point to the ATV trail. I don’t have an ATV, so I always just hiked the trail. It’s a long hike from there to the Curve, but if you enjoy hiking it’s well worth it. The cool part is that the trail is close to the tracks for some of the hike, so you can often see trains passing by while you’re hiking the trail.
That first intermodal was not 212. NS 212 as it doesn’t travel west on the Pittsburgh Line because the train terminates in Croxton, NJ. So, why would he go west then? Just doesn’t make any sense. Also, 212 carriers a lot of UPS and there wasn’t any UPS on that train.
Thanks for pointing that out! My apologies. It must have been reported incorrectly on the heritage unit app that day. I did think it was strange, as you mentioned. Any idea what train it was?
My guess that was train 25Z, but I’m not sure since I wasn’t there trackside.
Wait so those pushers are actually manned? Nice.
A lot of times the pushers sound their horn as they go around Horseshoe Curve and the engineers in the pushers wave at the railfans there!
Odd numbers west, even numbers east
Anyone know what 8102 was at 17:40 ?
In my heart this line will always be the PRR rather than NS
Excellent production! It is unfortunate that the steel bridge at Cassandra is threatened with demolition as a result of "falling debris". I would suggest that it would make infinitely more sense, from a social perspective, to properly maintain this light load-bearing asset rather that to neglect its basic upkeep that can only lead to its demise. 2022/08/18. Ontario, Canada.
Seems like manifest trains are slowly making a comeback over boring unit trains.
36:19 how do you get to that spot?
Great question! The location I’m recording from is an ATV / off-road trail that extends quite a ways beyond that point. It took me a couple years of exploring the trails to figure out how to get to that overlook. I'm still not an expert, but as far as I know the closest access point is 2 or 3 miles east of the curve. There's a small road off Veterans Memorial Highway / Kittanning Point Road (I think those are two names for the same road but I could be wrong) that tunnels underneath the tracks and leads to the Altoona Sportsmen's Club. If you're on Kittanning Point Road, it’s near Matzik Automatic Transmission Service. If you look carefully, there’s a small sign on the south side of the road that says “Altoona Volunteer Sportsmen’s Association New Members Welcome.” Across the road from that sign (on the north side) is a narrow drive that eventually tunnels underneath the tracks. As far as I know this is the closest access point to the ATV trail. I don’t have an ATV, so I always just hiked the trail. It’s a long hike from there to the Curve, but if you enjoy hiking it’s well worth it. The cool part is that the trail is close to the tracks for some of the hike, so you can often see trains passing by while you’re hiking the trail.
@@DavidLauback Thank you for the information! You got some pretty beautiful shots with a lot of detail on how to get there!
Cool! That wasn’t 212 though, 212 runs east of Harrisburg
Yeah, shortly after publishing the video I realized that the first train isn't 212, so I added a correction to the video's description. I had to laugh when I realized that I had messed up information for the first train in a 75-minute video! Oh well, these things happen.
@@DavidLauback lol! Ya mistakes happen
The Allegheny mountains are better here in west Virginia. You should check west Virginia out it's pretty to.
I would love to railfan in West Virginia some day! That sounds like a really neat place to visit for watching trains!
212 doesn't go this way , goes via the Lugan branch to Hagerstown and 212 is an eastbound
Yeah, shortly after I posted the video I realized I got that wrong, so I added a correction to the video's description. 😬
U probably meant 21T
🌐🌐
How many hobos still ride the rails, serious question
thats a SD70ACU. NOT SD90MAC. Bro U really need to do research and fact checks before uploading videos. just saying
Thanks for pointing out the error! It even says what type of locomotive it is right underneath the number now that I go back and look! 😂 I definitely do my best to provide accurate information and avoid errors, but I'm far from perfect. I hope you were still able to enjoy the video.
🤓
0:19 Had to stop as I hated the monotone commentary - couldn't watch past 0:19
Thanks for taking the time to leave some feedback! I'll keep that in mind when making future videos.