The Horseshoe Curve

The Horseshoe Curve here in Pennsylvania was a favorite family picnic spot while I was growing up. A lot of times my mother and I would get together with my grandparents, my aunt, and little cousin and take a picnic and walk up the 100 steps to have our picnic and maybe see a train if we were lucky. Sometimes I would go with my parents in the hot summer evenings to walk up the steps to the top of the Horseshoe Curve. Once at the top my parents would sit and enjoy the breeze from the trees surrounding the Curve while I wandered around looking at the sights of nature. It wasn't very often we were lucky enough to see a train but when we did it was very exciting. The engineer would blow the whistle and always at the end of the train the caboose man would be waving to us. It was very exciting when I was a child.

After my husband and I were married and had our first child we used to take her to the Horseshoe Curve so she could enjoy the walk up the steps to watch for a train. It is always so exciting to hope to see a train after walking up all those steps! Later, after our other three children were born into the world we took them to walk the steps and hopefully see a train. The kids always had so much fun trying to count the steps! After the walk back down the steps there was always an ice cream treat from the little food stand at the bottom.

Walking to the top of the Horseshoe Curve used to be a free activity that families could do when there wasn't always money to go places. It was a nice place to have a picnic or just to go to sit at the top and enjoy the cool breeze on a hot summer day. If you couldn't find anything to do there was always "Lets go to the Horseshoe Curve and walk to the top and maybe we will see a train go by."

Now the Horseshoe Curve has been remodeled. There is an incline you can take instead of walking up the steps. This is very nice for the people who are disabled and cannot walk very far. But the thing that bothers me is there is a fee now to walk up the steps to the top of the Horseshoe Curve. I can understand paying a fee for the incline. But I cannot understand why after years and years of being able to walk to the top for free why there is a fee just for walking.

Now I have a four year old granddaughter who has never had the chance to walk up the steps to get to the top of the Horseshoe Curve and watch for a train. It is no longer a free place for families to enjoy picnics or just a walk. People with large families who cannot always afford to do things have one less nice place to go because of a fee that you have to pay.

After all those years during my childhood, and after having children of my own it was always such fun to have a peaceful place to go to enjoy for free. Sure you should pay to ride the incline but I wish we didn't have to pay a fee for the walk to the top!