History According to TS1: The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR or Pennsy) constructed the Altoona to Johnstown section of the Philadelphia to Pittsburgh railroad in the mid 19th century, with the famous Horseshoe Curve being completed in 1854. Upon the opening of the line, the Allegheny Mountains were no longer a barrier in transporting freight and passengers across Pennsylvania. The construction and operation of the railroad gave rise to the City of Altoona, home of locomotive, passenger and freight car shops with the PRR being the primary industry of the region. As the railroad grew, so did Altoona itself. In 75 years, Altoona went from farmland to a population of 75,000. The Horseshoe Curve itself was designed by John Edgar Thomson and Herman Haupt, and opened on February 15, 1854, as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad's mainline to the west. The curve has been in continuous operation since then when it originally had two tracks. Between 1898 and 1900 it was widened to four tracks. The curve was considered so important to railroad traffic that it was guarded by Union soldiers during the American Civil War and the Nazis attempted to sabotage it during World War II. The Curve covers about 220 degrees of arc; on the north side, the radius measures 637 ft (194 m), tightening to 609 ft (186 m) on the southside. Route: The route extends from Altoona in the East to Johnstown in the West. These areas of the industry are separated by the Allegheny Mountains which is crossed by travelling approximately 45 miles of curves and steep gradients. The summit of the route is at Gallitzin around the iconic tunnels. The Horseshoe Curve is the most famous of the curves on the route and is located about 5 miles from Altoona. Focus Time Period: The route has been constructed based on the reference in the mid-1950s. During this time, diesel were dominant on the route and the track layout at Altoona was frequently changing. This was before PRR stopped using steam engines in 1957 so there is still some steam-based infrastructure on the route. The 100th anniversary of the Horseshoe Curve was in 1954. It would be excellent if they included this route running all the way to Pittsburgh. Also, possibly include the T1 Duplex Steam Locomotive for this route. Make it predominantly Steam era.
Horseshoe Curve during the PRR steam era would be an amazing route to introduce North American steam into TSW2!
Keep dreaming, that a length of about 353 miles from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and a length of about 299 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington DC, longer than any other route in either TSW or TS1
The T1 would be a extremely poor pick for the route, it did run there sure, but you can't take it up to the high speeds it's known for, would rather see the likes of the M1 or K4.
I've been trying to search for which routes the T1 did operate on at max speeds, but I'm not too sure. Could you give me some routes that it ran on? I'll probably post some more routes on where it ran
I've heard stories and seen pictures of T1s over the HSC getting help from another loco, like K4s, to help the train up the grades
M1a/b, J1 2-10-4, K4 Pacific, H10 Consolidation, and maybe a Q1 or Q2 Duplex freight loco, or S1 Steam Turbine. A 2-8-8-2 Mallet and CC2s 0-8-8-0 would be great to see as well.