|
Business Meetings are held at 7:30 pm, on the
fourth Tuesday of every other Month
(excluding December) at:
The
Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum, Building B (old annex),
Memorial Hall, 1300 9th Avenue, Altoona, PA 16602
Social Meetings are held on alternate months at
a pre-determined location.
Contact President Francis Givler,
Jr. for further details.
You are invited to attend!
Contact Us
Best viewed at 800 x 600
Resolution with Javascript and Cookies enabled!
NRHS and its logo are trademarks
of the
National Railway Historical Society.
"Railfest" is a trademark of the
Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum.
Panoramic photograph of the
Horseshoe Curve seen throughout this website is used with permission, copyright:
Kirk Leidy, Altoona, PA.
Photograph of Locomotive in
collage is by
Thomas Lynam & Altoona Archives .
The Horseshoe Curve "Eighth
Wonder" Logo is a trademark of the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum, Inc.
Website statistic history, 1999-
September 2008 can be found here.
Author:
Chris Behe
Copyright © 1998-2007 Horseshoe Curve Chapter, NRHS. All rights reserved.
Revised: March 26, 2006
|
|
The Horseshoe Curve Chapter,
National Railway Historical Society
(NRHS),
is a tax exempt, non-profit organization which engages in projects to preserve
and maintain historical equipment and information relating to the rail
transportation industry, particularly as it applies to the Blair County, PA
area. The Horseshoe Curve Chapter, had its beginnings at the time
the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) ceased to exist & when many of the PRR’s historical
sites in the Altoona Area were being dismantled. Although many local facilities
were lost, the Horseshoe Curve Chapter, of the
NRHS, has always strived to
preserve the heritage of our fore bearers who settled here. We are also proud to
have played an instrumental role in the local heritage awareness and to help
found and organize the Altoona Railroaders
Memorial Museum as well as acquire/fund major Museum acquisitions.
The Chapter owns and operates rail passenger equipment as well
as restores rolling stock. We support all preservation
projects of the Altoona Railroaders
Memorial Museum. A periodic newsletter, an annual chapter picnic, and other
special events are regular activities.
Inside this site, you will find
"The Coal Bucket", containing extensive information regarding Chapter Excursions and Activities,
Horseshoe Curve Chapter, NRHS Information,
Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum Information,
Altoona Area History as well as Railfan Guide Information, and Railroad
Related Links.
We hope you enjoy the site and encourage you to visit us during
one of our monthly business/social meetings or one of our activities.
Latest News
This page was last updated on:
January 02, 2009!
April, May,
June, & August Minutes have been added to the Chapter News page. |
Penn
Central 1974 - The Movie"This
is the movie commissioned by the Penn Central Railroad bankruptcy trustees to
try to convince members of Congress that the railroad desperately needed a cash
infusion or some other federal intervention if the railroad were to survive.
Think of it as the social media of its day, a corporate movie commissioned as a
way of educating elected officials who had little time or inclination to
actually visit the railroad to find out what was going on. In fairness,
there are some anecdotes I've heard about the making of this movie, including
the fact that some of the really bad conditions just wouldn't cooperate with the
filmmakers. So instead of showing actual "standing derailments" (derailments
caused by crossties so rotted that the rails just spread apart under the weight
of the freight cars), they actually had to stage some of them. There is a
scene of a car derailing as it moves down the "hump" track in a classification
yard, and I'm told it took more than one take to get it to derail. Despite
these moviemaker tricks, the facts were pretty bleak for Penn Central.
And the movie did help convince Congress to do the only right thing. Take
control of the company and the other bankrupt railroads, and make something new.
Conrail. And considering what the car companies are asking for as an INTERIM
solution for just the next three months ($15 billion), Conrail was a bargain at
$7.6 billion -- all in...." (Steve Lubetkin's Blog;
11DEC08;
http://www.lubetkin.net/blog/2008/12/penn-central-1974-movie.html)
|
|
Old News: |
|
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Chapter President, Frank Givler conveys his appreciation
for all the hard work chapter members have contributed to our projects during
the past year: hosting social
meetings, picnics, and events; working excursions on the Everett Railroad;
volunteering on work parties at Railroader’s Memorial Museum; Saturday and
Monday work on restoration of the Railway Express Agency truck at Frank’s
Garage; planning and executing and participating in bus trips; promoting the
sale of our model train car REX 7375.
While we realize the hardships of rising prices in the
present economy create burdens, particularly the price of gasoline and, faced
with the dues increase with NRHS, we do hope you will
consider renewing your membership.
If this is not possible, we nonetheless cherish your past support of the Chapter
and the NRHS.
|
|
The Memorable Moments of the Past, the
Chapter News, and the
Upcoming Events pages have been updated. |
|
Please enter the site through the hover button, titled "Enter The Coal Bucket",
found below. |
| All, Thanks for enduring the delay on
website updates. Personal commitments preclude regular updates. Future updates
will be posted intermittently. For timely information, please contact one of the
Chapter Officers. Their contact information can be found on the "Contact Us"
page and throughout the website. Regards. The Webmaster. |
|