Altoona Recreation Dept.

On Monday April 20, 2009 Train Time's own Paul Lodge, his wife and I headed out for a short trip to The Tunnel Inn in Gallitzin, PA. There we would meet The Fiddler for a Tuesday with the "master guide" Phil Faudi. Spring provided a hint of color as a backdrop but the leaves were still hiding on the trees, which allowed good visibility.

On Tuesday, we headed out at a reasonable 8am having already seen a bunch of rail action from our rooms at the Inn. That's normal there. When I was awake and counting we caught 18N, 21Q and 25Z. A couple of others went by before I rolled out or while I was in the shower and I missed their symbols.

Our first stop of the day was at Works and then the new 7th St. Bridge. The Fiddler & I kept busy at these spots while Paul was down near Alto tower around the museum area bridges. A local, a couple of helper sets and a coal train kept us busy at Works. Up on the bridge we caught this glorious trash train -65J - as it received "helpers ahead" and proceeded west. We also headed west, detouring to the "sportsman club" area around MG Tower and then on to Cresson.

As we watched 20G pass through the lights at Cresson, Phil checked on a new perch on the other side of the tracks. He obtained permission to use a platform sitting right where the Fallen Timbers branch ties in. It is behind what used to be a bar and no doubt provided entertainment for patrons (as well as passing crews). This batch of recently painted SD80MAC's was photographed from that perch.


From the beginning of the day I noticed some newly painted SD50's being used as helpers. Number 6300 was a common sight on this day. The cab designation said SD40-E. I'm a little rusty on the details but it seems the SD50 and SD60 types fell into a bad zone where they weren't worth rebuilding because of newer and expensive emission standards. I suspect the same thing would make them nearly worthless for resale too. Maybe the de-rating gives them a new lease on life? Anyway, they are much quieter and less smokey than their older counterparts in helper service. Juniata shops seemed to have plenty of fodder for more on hand. They look sharp, but time is running out if you like to hear the roar of helpers on the back of a heavy train as they dig in.

The Fiddler had to leave around 3pm so we dropped him at the Tunnel Inn and continued our adventure. Too bad he had to leave. Phil correctly predicted a confluence of trains so we headed west and got as far as Carney's Crossing just west of Cresson. However, even he did not predict 3 meets in 35 minutes! Here is coal train 84R from the Powder River Basin approaching just as 21J clears out of the way. We then saw similar meets between 20R & 23W, then 615 & 10A. Somehow Phil and I managed to be on the correct side of the tracks for each meet too, so we had the ideal view.

Don't you just hate it when there are too many trains and you can't leave!

Before we could go too far from Carney's Phil again predicted an approaching batch of trains. This time we went to Lily to hide under the bridge, out of the rain. It turned into a good stay. We caught 6 more trains there! This time we caught the eastbound trash train 64J, PPLX #411, Coal # 536, Roadrailer #242, the westbound Amtrak and finally 18G. This time we were in one place for a bit under an hour, through a variety of rain showers and spotty sun. I like the view of the curve from under the bridge, especially when I can hide out of the wind. The show was winding down and it was time for supper, so we called it a day.

The next day we met Phil for breakfast and then headed downtown again. For all my visits to Altoona I really ignore the place, so we made an effort this time. First, we stopped by the turntable at Juniata. For Paul this was a good chance to see the rig in operation as they moved a few units around. Train Time fans will like that in a future episode. From the turntable we ventured a couple of blocks to the newish Juniata 8th St. bridge. This spot is right over Rose Yard. From here you can see about anything at this end of town. There were helpers poking around; locals coming and going; a switcher or two; crew changes; MOW workers; trains getting helpers. We were there quite a while and had plenty to see the whole time. This is a must-see spot. I have always liked those SD60I's in Conrail blue. Seeing them on coal trains, still in blue is really nice. Here we have an unknown PPLX empty pulling into the holding tracks along the bypass at Rose.

A few degrees to the left of where the PPLX train passed is the mainline. Here we see Rose interlocking. Down behind 21G is Antis where a helper set is tying on for the trip over the hill. This helper ritual goes on constantly 24-7 from this spot. They might tie on at Works, Antis or Rose and they might disconnect anywhere. Helpers seem to roam all over Altoona at any given time. Train 21G is interesting because it is "guaranteed" to be on-time. I suspect that causes heartburn all over the place when it runs a bit off the mark, then gets helpers.


We had a good second day with Phil. It was a bonus because we didn't know he'd be able to join us much on Wednesday when we left Maine. This final shot is from a new location we scouted. It is where the old Portage RR roadbed crosses the PRR main. It is situated on the tangent right between Cassandra and the bridge at Jamestown Rd. For us that stretch was always an "unknown". Now we have a new afternoon spot.


Another great adventure in Altoona. There's way too many photos to show here, but this is a representative batch. The idea was to forget work, get away from Maine, see some friends and photograph some trains. Something in the neighborhood of 75 trains and numerous other things was our catch this time. Thanks to Phil and the folks at the Tunnel Inn; Mission accomplished!

BC