Gallitzin Tunnels Park & Museum

Not even a month after my second visit to the Gallitzin tunnels park area, I had to go to Philadelphia for business. Naturally, I booked tickets on Amtrak's Pennsylvanian -- one of the loveliest regional rides you can find in the mid-Atlantic region. This was my second ride on numbers 42/43, my family having ridden the entire route a few years ago for a holiday celebration in New York City. For this trip, I only rode from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, and then returned a few days later. The eastbound 42 is a great ride, coming down the mountain on the former Pennsylvania main and over the river to Harrisburg, where electrics replace diesels and speeds jump up to 100 - 110 mph on the Keystone Corridor that runs through Amish farmland and finally plays out in downtown Philly. But the westbound return is my favorite, leaving Altoona and climbing up and around the Horseshoe Curve and then through the Gallitzin double-track bore. The 3-track mainline between the Curve and over through the Tunnel is full of interesting crossovers, Pennsy-era signal bridges, and cutaways and S-curves. I made my way to the rear of #43 and shot some video from just west of the Curve all the over the crest of grade, through the return wye, and on to the reunion of the 3-track main on the Johnstown side of the tunnels. 42/43 are modest trains from an equipment standpoint, but what they lack in length or lashups they make up for in right-of-way.