Off the rails: Crews still working to clean up derailment at Horseshoe Curve
Crews still working to clean up derailment at Horseshoe Curve
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Several train cars derailed at the Horseshoe Curve near the visitor center Tuesday afternoon.
Mirror photo by Jayla Nartatez / Emergency personnel and Norfolk Southern workers tend to the railway cars that fell over during a derailment at the Horseshoe Curve Tuesday afternoon.
Mirror photo by Jayla Nartatez / Chuck and his wife came out to see the train derailment while in town from Maryland.
Mirror photo by Jayla Nartatez / Train enthusiast Zach Rudisill set up his camera and flew his drone to capture the derailment at the Horseshoe Curve Tuesday.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Several train cars derailed at the Horseshoe Curve near the visitor center Tuesday afternoon.
Mirror photo by Jayla Nartatez / Emergency personnel and Norfolk Southern workers tend to the railway cars that fell over during a derailment at the Horseshoe Curve Tuesday afternoon.
Mirror photo by Jayla Nartatez / Chuck and his wife came out to see the train derailment while in town from Maryland.
Mirror photo by Jayla Nartatez / Train enthusiast Zach Rudisill set up his camera and flew his drone to capture the derailment at the Horseshoe Curve Tuesday.
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An investigation into the derailment of about a dozen train cars traveling westward Tuesday afternoon along Altoona's Horseshoe Curve remains underway, according to Norfolk Southern officials.
Senior communications manager Kasandra Jenkins wrote in an email that no injuries were reported and there were no hazardous materials "yet confirmed" on the 12 derailed cars.
Rail enthusiasts flocked to the grassy berm next to Veteran's Memorial Highway and across from Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark to watch crews work on the cars that were left partially tipped over or fully lying on their sides next to the tracks. Many were alerted to the derailment through the YouTube channel Virtual Railfan, which has a camera broadcasting part of the tracks along the Curve. The live video feed, which began June 20, 2017, runs 24 hours a day but only retains about 12 hours of footage at a time. The segment showing the moment of the derailment can be seen here:
On Tuesday, those watching the livestream witnessed the derailment occur about 3:23 p.m. One such person was 12-year-old Raine Welles, who was watching the crews' progress with his parents Bradley Welles and Heather Boston.
"I knew it would take a lot of cleaning up," Boston said. "The last time something like this happened, it took awhile."
Maryland residents Mary and Chuck were in Gallitzin when the derailment occurred.
"A train stopped on the tracks and its engine shut off," Chuck said. "I just thought 'that does not bode well.'"
The couple comes to the area about once a year and plans on visiting the landmark again today, as well as seeing a baseball game at the Altoona Curve.
Zach Rudisill was on scene with a camera on a tripod and a drone in the air recording footage of the incident, which he planned to upload to his Facebook and YouTube channels Rudy's Rail Adventures.
A Hollidaysburg resident, Rudisill said he checked his Facebook "at the right time" because a local group had posted about the derailment just after it happened.
"I checked the camera because they said it was shown live," Rudisill said. "My jaw just dropped when I saw the train cars tipped over."
He had never seen a derailment live before, so he thought he "might as well come out."
"It was really neat to see how much force it took to derail those cars and now seeing how much manpower it's taking to get them back on track," Rudisill said.
Randy Zook, who was watching the crews with his family, said it was his 7-year-old son who told them about the derailment.
"We're up here three times a week anyway," Zook said, adding that they only live about 15 minutes from the Horseshoe Curve.
Members of the Railroaders Memorial Museum, Zook said his family loves "all this railroad stuff," especially now that trees were cut down along the tracks.
"It's so different now that the trees are gone," Zook said. "You couldn't see any of this."
Tuesday's derailment marks the third such incident on or nearby the Horseshoe Curve in 2026.
In early February, about 65 Norfolk Southern railcars derailed on the mainline next to Lake Altoona, a little less than halfway between Coburn and the Curve to the west. The second derailment occurred about a month later in early March when about 17 railcars derailed about five miles away from the Curve. No injuries were reported in either incident.
As of late Tuesday evening, crews could be seen via the Virtual Railfan livestream still working along the tracks and the cars were still off the rails.
Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.