Muleshoe Curve

Muleshoe Curve is a curve of track on the former Pennsylvania Railroad, located near Duncansville, Pennsylvania. It never reached the same amount of popularity as the nearby Horseshoe Curve, located 4.34 mi (7 km) north of Muleshoe curve. This was mainly due to it being merely a secondary route between Spruce Creek and Gallitzin. Built in 1850s by the state of Pennsylvania as part of the New Portage Railroad (itself built to bypass the inclined planes of the Allegheny Portage Railroad). Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) purchased the line (and the curve) in 1857 and promptly closed it, as the PRR already had their own line in the region. The rails were removed and used by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad. In 1904 the line was reopened and double tracked by the PRR as a bypass. One track was removed in 1955 and the other in 1981. After the railroad was taken over by Conrail, Muleshoe Curve was permanently abandoned in 1981.