| Vistas. Here is third of three original photos that I took from atop the former Pennsylvania Railroad Test Plant building in Altoona, Pennsylvania, during June of 1973. Shown here in this West-facing view (R to L) are ALTO Tower, the six-track signal bridge, and the branch line to Hollidaysburg and the New Portage/Muleshoe Curve Secondary Line. Also visible in the distance is a Penn Central Railroad freight train passing under the 24th Street Bridge on its way up the Allegheny Mountains to Gallitzin and points West. In the early years of the 20th Century, the ready tracks to the left of the mainline were filled with fire-breathing, smoke-belching "helper" and "pusher" locomotives. Alas, no more! |