Horseshoe Curve & Sand Patch Grade

SKU: DVD-PNX-CPATCH
(6 customer reviews)

$24.95

Historic railroad action on two of railroading’s most historic stretches of track: Horseshoe Curve and Sand Patch Grade.

In stock

Purchase this product now and earn 100 Points!
  • Check Mark Free Post Office shipping over $25!
  • Check Mark Free UPS shipping over $75!
Producer

Pentrex

Run Time

1 hour 15 minutes

Narration

Yes

Shrink Wrap

Yes, Brand New

Technical Details

No Region Code, NTSC

Historic railroad action on two of railroading’s most historic stretches of track! Horseshoe Curve and Sand Patch Grade are two Pennsylvania railroading landmarks of enormous popularity, with good reason. They share long history, challenging terrain, heavy traffic, and innovative technologies. Pentrex recorded these famous sites in the late 1980s and released two outstanding shows, both of which are included on this new combo DVD:
Horseshoe Curve
Step back to 1989 when Conrail was running from 40-60 trains a day through the 3-track curve at this historic site in central Pennsylvania. Most of the action here is led by Conrail but Amtrak makes an appearance as well. The interesting mix of motive power you’ll see here includes SD40s, SD40-2s, SD45-2s, and GE C30-7As. You’ll travel to Alto Tower in Altoona, Benny, the Gallitzin Twin Tunnels, AR Tower, MO Tower in Cresson, but most of all you’ll spend quality time at Horseshoe Curve itself, the granddaddy of railfan locations! (75 minutes)

Sand Patch Grade
Old and new technologies intermingle on this remote yet important route through the Alleghenies. In 1990, when our show was recorded, this former B&O trackage was known as the Mainline Subdivision, a part of CSX’s Chicago to Baltimore mainline. CSX trains battled their way upgrade through Brackens, Fairhope, Falls Cut Tunnel, Glencoe, the horseshoe curve at Mance, and Sand Patch Grade itself. You’ll see a variety of motive power including GP30s, GP40s, SD50s, the CSX F-unit, and others in an assortment of paint schemes such as B&O, C&O, Clinchfield, Seaboard, Chessie, and classic CSX colors. You’ll also tour the tower at Hyndman where vintage Armstrong levers were still in daily use and visit busy SA tower at the crest of Sand Patch Summit. Sand Patch Grade, rich in history, abounds in exciting mainline railroading! (60 minutes)

6 reviews for Horseshoe Curve & Sand Patch Grade

  1. CapitolRailfan88

    2 movies for the price of one, not a bad way to spend an evening. Both programs are good for being over 30 years old. Horseshoe Curve is the slightly weaker of the programs with less informative narration as compared to Sand Patch and not as good camera work or variety of locations. While both programs feature sights and locomotives that are long gone much is still the same to this day at the locations filmed. Seeing the towers along Sand Patch was an added historic bonus. Its somewhat a shame that Pentrex hasn’t gone back to these 2 areas for a more modern look at things.

  2. Curtis Watson

    Honestly, the Horseshoe Curve portion is a bit repetitive. It would have been nice if they had added in a little more narration about the history of railroading in the region, for example why one of the four tracks was removed. The Sand Patch portion is better, and has much more variety in locales. Overall, though, it’s a good program, and provides nice views of what may be a Golden Age of eastern railroading.

  3. CR6377

    Horseshoe Curve was my first program from Pentrex back in the early 90s. Have enjoyed watching it, and of course visiting the place in person was the different photo angles on both East and West side of the Curve. And other locations in that part of the video. Seeing Alto open along with AR and MO Towers is nice as well. PRR Signals galore too. The Sand Patch part is a good video as well. Nice visiting inside Hyndmans Q Tower and Sand Patch’s SA Tower is always nice. Scenic locations in both programs will make you want to watch both programs again and again.

  4. Andrew Weise

    I am a big fan of early Pentrex videos, there are a lot of great titles that were produced well.
    Horseshoe: Very scenic, good video angles, informative narration.
    Sand Patch: Sharp, clear video shooting. I noticed that compared to Horseshoe, this video focused on the operations on the line and providing a lot of information about what you were seeing.
    Both videos are worth the purchase and a very good deal.

  5. rrvideoman, Delisle Saskatchewan

    Another Pentrex highly rated in my collection. Sandpatch: A very interesting variety of Power from different fallen flags. Very impressive. The region is shown in near complete detail, in various weather conditions, like the region regularly sees. Only being an hour from Horseshoe, it makes for a great side trip and adds to the adventure of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Horseshoe: 1st impression of this segment was “to much right at the Curve”, but after viewing the movie several times, it only helps to grow on the Railfan. Lots of Trains shot from lots of different angles. The region near Horseshoe is covered as well.

  6. Arthur

    Classic Railroading at its best and big mountain Railroading what can be better then that Big Blue Chessie and B&O

Add a review

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *