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Altoona is a major center on the Norfolk Southern Railway's (NS) Pittsburgh Line. In Altoona, helper engines are added to heavy trains to give them extra power up and over Horseshoe Curve west of town. The Juniata Heavy Repair Shop Complex, originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, is the primary repair and maintenance facility on NS. On ...
Altoona was incorporated as a borough in 1854, when it included approximately 2,000 residents. the population grew to over 10,000 by 1870 - partly as a result of demand for rail cars during the Civil War. Altoona was incorporated as a city in 1868. By 1880, Altoona's population had reached almost 20,000.
The city lies 45 miles (72 km) by road northeast of Johnstown. It was founded in 1849 by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a base for building railroads over the Alleghenies. Its name probably derives from the Cherokee word allatoona (“high lands of great worth”). The site, long a communications focus, had been settled since the 1760s ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jul 24, 2024 · Altoona, Pennsylvania, often referred to as “The Railroad City,” holds a prominent place in American history due to its pivotal role in the development of the railroad industry. Nestled in the Allegheny Mountains, Altoona’s rise as a major railroad hub transformed it into a bustling industrial center and left an indelible mark on the region’s cultural and economic landscape.
In 1864, the first stretch of railroad using steel for the rails was built between Altoona and Pittsburgh. Altoona's four-year university is Penn State Altoona, the outgrowth of the Altoona Undergraduate Center that opened in 1939. The Railroaders Memorial Museum is housed in the former master mechanics building of the Pennsylvania Railroad ...
The PRR’s corporate headquarters were in Philadelphia but conducted most of its research, manufacturing, and repair operations in Altoona, Pennsylvania, a town built for the purpose of supporting the company (McNitt, 2004, p. 14).
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You can view the Horseshoe Curve on a train via Amtrak. In the early 1850s, the massive front of the Allegheny Mountains, standing 2,161 feet above sea level, blocked westward advance. This obstacle culminated in the creation of the Gallitzin Tunnels and the Horseshoe Curve, both of which were dug out of near-impenetrable geographic formations.
