IT'S ALL ABOUT ALTOONA!

A lot of people ask me where the name Altoona generated from. The word altoona is derived from the Cherokee word "Allatoona", which means, "the high lands of great worth."

I guess that is why the railroad decided to build one of the biggest railroads in the world here. The city of Altoona was built around the railroad. It was one of the most important rail lines in the northeast. During WWII the German's had Altoona marked as one of the top 10 sites in the United States to bomb. They knew if they could have accomplished this it would have crippled the United States and possibly won WWII.

The railroad has changed hands and changed names many times. During my lifetime it went from PRR (Pennsylania Railroad), to Conrail, and now known as Norfolk Southern. There's a lot of history in this old city and it's railroad. Many immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Germany settled here and take great pride in building the railroad. Even run away slaves from the south have roots here, all because of the railroad boom. If it wouldn't have been for the railroad through Pennsylvania the north might have lost the Cival War.

Today, Norfolk Southern is thriving and hiring many new workers, especially since the gas prices are so high. Industeries are finding it's much cheaper to ship by rail than pay the truckers fuel charges to ship merchandise.