Train Sim World 2 to see an American legend, the Horseshoe Curve route

A new route soon to be released by Dovetail for Train Sim World 2 (TSW 2) and is one of America’s most legendary and dramatic railroad landmarks, Norfolk Southern’s (NS) Horseshoe Curve route.

Few places in American railroading evoke more history and drama than Horseshoe Curve on Pennsylvania Railroad’s line through the Allegheny Mountains.

Over 150 years after it was built the Horseshoe Curve route is still a busy Norfolk Southern rail artery.

TSW 2’s Horseshoe Curve route, which is known today as Norfolk Southern’s Pittsburgh Line, will re-create NS’s crossing of the rugged Alleghenies and give players the opportunity to haul a variety of freights ranging from priority inter-modals to ponderous coal behind high-horsepower NS diesels.

With the ancient, worn rock face of Kittanning Point as a backdrop, a pair of Norfolk Southern General Electric ES44ACs haul coal gondolas uphill around the legendary Horseshoe Curve.

Developed by Skyhook Games for TSW 2, the route extends 40 route miles from the railroad town of Altoona and the sprawling Juniata Shops to Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

The line climbs over the Allegheny Mountains and represents the railroad as it was in 2018.

SBB’s RABe 523 EMU on the Luzern to Sursee route coming soon to Train Sim World 2.

21st March 2022

At Altoona, a westbound manifest powered by a trio of Norfolk Southern GE ES44ACs passes the city’s modern passenger station.

The route also includes part of Norfolk Southern’s steep South Fork Secondary line extending 15 miles from South Fork to a coal mine near Windber, Pennsylvania, and with climbs of up to 3 percent.

Motive power in the simulation will feature Norfolk Southern’s powerful six-axle, 4,400 HP General Electric ES44AC, as well as the versatile NS Electro-Motive GP38-2.

A pair of NS ES44ACs are standing at Altoona’s Juniata Shops awaiting their next duties.

A full range of modern freight equipment will also be provided to replicate the diverse traffic flow over the route.

In total, there will be a selection of four training tutorials, five scenarios, and a variety of timetabled services.

To climb the eastern slope of the Alleghenies, the Pennsylvania Railroad faced the daunting task of ascending nearly 1,000-feet between Altoona and Gallitzin, Pennsylvania.

Aboard a Norfolk Southern GE ES44AC, players can take the throttle of the modern 4,400-horsepower, six-axle diesel, and work in a realistic cab with a full range of authentic and interactive controls.

To do so required a tortuous and twisting climb with a 1.85 percent ruling grade, and that was achieved only by the building of the 3,612-foot-long Allegheny Tunnel at the summit and the great horseshoe-shaped curve at Kittanning Point, which itself carries the line from an elevation of 1,473 feet on its east end to 1,706-feet on its west side.

Horseshoe Curve and the Allegheny crossing from Altoona on the east to Johnstown, Pennsylvania on the west are part of the Pennsylvania’s Pittsburgh Division and are one of America’s busiest and most critical railroad arteries.

With the city’s classic domed Cathedral and now-closed Alto Tower standing behind, a train of coal gondolas makes its westbound departure from Altoona. Ahead lies the tough climb of the Alleghenies with its twisting 1.85 percent ruling grade.

The route sees a seemingly endless passage of freight and passenger trains, including PRR’s premiere “Broadway Limited”.

Besides Horseshoe Curve, the route has other classic and memorable locations, including the Gallitzin, Allegheny, and New Portage Tunnels, remote MG Tower, the steep eastbound “Slide,” key coal feeder lines at Cresson and South Fork, and the sprawling yards and Juniata shops at Altoona.

Today, the Horseshoe Curve route remains one of railroading’s greatest displays of mountain railroading, constantly humming with traffic ranging from double-stack container trains to coal tonnage, manifest freights, grain, oil, and autos. The line is also host to Amtrak’s New York-Philadelphia-Pittsburgh “Pennsylvanian”.