Vets Field was the home of the Altoona Rail Kings of the Heartland League.

The Rail Kings are gone. The Heartland League is gone, but Vets Field remains. There may be a new team in town (the Altoona Curve) and a shiny new AA ballpark (Blair County Stadium), but Vets Field survives and thrives in the railroading town of Altoona.



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Following old signs still posted around town, I was able to negotiate a maze of sidestreets to find Vets, sandwiched between a mosque and a set of railroad tracks. The place was locked up and I was in the process of climbing onto the roof of my car to get some shots over the chain link fence, when a car pulled up. Fearing some local ordinance forbidding people from standing on car rooves, I leapt to the ground. Turns out is was the head groundkeeper, who was kind enough to let me in to take these photographs.

He told me that they still play over 200 games a year on the field between high school, semi-pro, and amateur ball. He also said that some football games are played there, so the departure of the Rail Kings actually made his job easier.


It looks like a nice little ballpark, perfect for independent ball in central Pennsylvania. I would like to have seen a game there, but alas...

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These photos were taken in August, 1998