Trains, (Incline) Planes and One Tank of Gas in the Automobile

   Earlier this summer my husband and I were looking for a weekend get-away that wouldn’t take more than a tank of gas. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend on the road or extra money to spend on the fuel.

    My husband’s nephew who lives in Altoona suggested that we come visit. Right. Altoona. Great vacation spot.

   Well, Dan couldn’t meet up with us until Saturday morning, so we had Friday to ourselves. It was a pleasant drive, mostly on two-lane roads, avoiding the majority of the heavy truck traffic and all of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We got an early start and stopped at a diner for breakfast. (We’re big fans of diners, especially if there is a house specialty like Amish meats or homemade pies. If they don’t have homemade pies and breakfast at any hour, they aren’t a real diner no matter what the décor.)

   Our plan for Friday was to visit the Railroaders Memorial Museum and Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark, followed by a tour of Fort Roberdeau, then on to an Altoona Curve baseball game.

   The Railroaders Museum, even filled with elementary students, was a pleasant surprise. The displays transport the viewer back to the heyday of the railroad in Altoona, from the rail yards to the backyards and parlors of the town, with first person audio accounts throughout the exhibit.

    Taking the funicular to the top of Horseshoe Curve provided a breathtaking view of the valley and a railroader’s view of the curve. (Pittsburghers would call the funicular an incline—unlike the inclines in Pittsburgh though, the funicular at the curve has two cars running on a single track, with a passing zone in the middle.)

   It was amazing to realize that an entire mountain valley was filled in to create the curve and create a mountable slope for the trains. The importance of the curve for moving freight is still evident in the number of trains that go through the area on any given day. One bed and breakfast located along the tracks promises a train an hour for railroad enthusiasts.

    Fort Roberdeau was also a pleasant surprise. It’s a Revolutionary War-era fort that was reconstructed for the bicentennial in 1976. The fort was originally built to protect the lead mines in the area that provided the Revolutionary soldiers with much-needed ammunition. The remote fort never came under attack.

   If you visit the fort, ask someone local for directions. It really isn’t hard to find with the right set of directions, but a computer-generated map probably won’t get you there.

   We closed our evening with an Altoona Curve baseball game. The Curve (not to be confused with the Horseshoe Curve) is a farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team has home games through the end of August, so it’s still not too late to get tickets. The on-line ticket ordering and printing system is easy to use and even the best seats in the house are less than parking for a Major League game.

   Our seats were close enough that even without the zoom lens on my camera I could see the gold chain around the first baseman’s neck. Minor league ball is a lot of fun. It’s more about fan participation than runs scored. We got to meet Bob the Baseball Dog, a young Yellow Lab being trained to retrieve bats and foul balls. Bob is very into the game.

   Of course, there are also the team mascots and the between-inning fan competitions, including human bowling balls, and the Star Spangled Banner was sung by a group of pre-school students. Now that’s local baseball!

Keep in mind that Altoona is a mountain community (remember the Horseshoe Curve?) You’ll want sweatshirts or jackets for the evening if you go in early or late summer. The fact that the refreshment stands at the baseball stadium sell hot chocolate should tell you something.

   Looking through the Blair County tourist information magazine, we realized there were still plenty of things to do in the area that we hadn’t even considered: hiking, camping and canoeing in nearby state parks and numerous museums and art galleries. Accommodations range from tent camping to romantic bed and breakfasts or specialty ones like the one for train spotters.