Altoona

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
110 Federal Park Road, Gallitzin, PA 16641
(814) 886-6150
$4
9AM to 5PM daily
The park is located just off U.S. 22 approximately 12 miles west of Altoona and 10 miles east of Ebensburg. Take the Gallitzin Exit and follow the signs.

The Allegheny Portage Railroad was a great achievement in early travel. Charles Dickens, Jenny Linn, and Ulysses S. Grant traveled over the Allegheny Mountains. They braved a system that injured passengers on a weekly basis. A system of inclined planes and a nine hundred foot tunnel carved through solid rock by Welsh coalminers made this feat possible. For twenty years, it was the fastest way to transgress the rough and wild terrain of Pennsylvania. The site features a recreated incline and winch used to pull portaged barges over the hill.

Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum
1300 9th Ave.

in downtown Altoona is a museum showing Altoona's history as a railroad town.

The Megahan House
1537 2nd Avenue
Free
On the corner of 2nd Avenue and 16th Street
Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament
13th Avenue at 13th Street

A Roman Catholic cathedral

Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark
$6
west of Altoona on Kittanning Point Road

Built by the Pennsylvania Railroad to allow trains to climb the steep Allegheny Mountains, this historic and well-known construction is a mecca for railfans. Located along the current Norfolk Southern east-west mainline, over 50 trains per day pass around the triple-track curve. Admission includes access to a small museum and a funicular ride up the hill to a grassy area on the inside of the curve, which has over 180 degrees' view of railroading action.