FM. Here is a duplicate 35mm B&W slide of a photo by Fred McLeod that was taken at the Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, Pennsylvania. Photo Caption: "Baldwin 'Centipede' twin 4-8-8-4 diesels on downgrade at Horseshoe Curve. Summer, 1948." Shown here (R to L) are Pennsylvania Railroad engine #5827 and another "Centipede" whose road number is not recorded. Both were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works as 3,000 horsepower BP-60's for passenger service, but later regeared and downgraded to 2,500 horsepower BH-50's for freight and helper service. #5827 was built in October of 1948 and retired in September of 1962 after just 14 years of revenue service. In this context, they're pulling a passenger train around the Curve on its way down the Allegheny Mountains to Altoona and points East. This photo comes from a slide set entitled "Horseshoe Curve, Pennsylvania Railroad" that's produced and distributed by Blackhawk Films of Davenport, Iowa (22-4). |