Horseshoe Bend is a semicircle-shaped section of railroad track built in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad to cross the Allegheny Mountains, allowing for east-west travel for passenger and freight trains. The horseshoe curve is a National Historic Landmark and around 50 trains travel around it daily. The curve was designed by J. Edgar Thompson and allowed for safe travel through the mountains without the need for a tunnel. Visitors can enjoy the panoramic views by taking a small incline wagon or climbing 194 steps to reach the tracks.
Horseshoe Bend is a semicircle-shaped section of railroad track built by the Pennsylvania Railroad to cross the Allegheny Mountains. Completed in 1854, the Horseshoe Curve was an engineering triumph that opened up east-west travel for passenger and freight trains. It had such a significant impact on U.S. history that in 1966, the bend earned its National Historic Landmark status. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and will be preserved and protected by the US government. Around 50 passenger or freight trains travel around the horseshoe bend every day.
The Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania formed a significant barrier to westward travel and trade. Railroad engineers set out to connect the east coast city of Philadelphia with the city of Pittsburgh in the western half of the state of Pennsylvania. The engineers were able to safely lay the railroad tracks through most of the mountainous terrain. Five miles (8 km) west of the town of Altoona, Pennsylvania, the terrain became too steep.
Railroad engineers debated how best to proceed to Altoona. A tunnel through the mountains would have been expensive and would have taken many years to build. To build railroad tracks in the mountains would have required dangerous elevation gains. For a train to travel safely, the degree of elevation of the tracks cannot exceed 1.8% or an increase of 1.8 feet (0.55 meters) for every 100 feet (30.48 meters).
In the early 1850s, railway engineer J. Edgar Thompson was able to design the horseshoe curve with an elevation degree of one foot (0.3 meters) for every 100 feet (30.48 meters). The tracks ran along the base of the mountain and then crossed a ravine before looping back in the original direction. Completed over a two-year period, a single track was opened to rail traffic in 1854. As traffic increased, three new tracks were added.
Tourists and train enthusiasts soon began traveling to the Horseshoe Curve site to view the tracks and watch the trains travel around the mountain. In 1992 the railroad, in partnership with the National Park Service, opened a visitor center and parking lot at the base of the tracks. Visitors can enjoy the panoramic mountain and landscape views by taking a small incline wagon up the steep hill from the parking lot to the tracks. The slopes can also be reached on foot by climbing a steep walk of 194 steps. A trailside picnic area makes Horseshoe Bend a popular destination.
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