Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 27, 2012

Horseshoe Curve is a 3485 ft, triple-tracked, railroad curve on Norfolk Southern Railway's Pittsburgh Line in Logan Township, Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is close to 1300 ft in diameter and has a grade of almost 2 percent. As a train travels west from Altoona, it ascends almost 60 ft in the 0.66 mi segment that makes up the curve and rotates 220 degrees. The curve was completed in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad as a means of lessening the grade to the summit of the Allegheny Mountains by increasing the distance. It was built as an alternative to the time-consuming Allegheny Portage Railroad, the only other method of traversing the mountains. It has formed an important part of the region's transport infrastructure since its opening, and during World War II was targeted by Nazi Germany in 1942 as a part of Operation Pastorius. The curve was later owned and used by the Pennsylvania Railroad's successors&mdash;Penn Central, Conrail, and Norfolk Southern. Horseshoe Curve was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. It was also designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2004. Since its opening, Horseshoe Curve has been a tourist attraction. A trackside observation park for visitors was completed in 1879. The park was renovated and a visitor center constructed in the early 1990s. The center is managed by Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona and contains exhibits pertaining to the curve.