I arose at the Best Western Plantation Inn in Mechanicsburg and after breakfast, moved the Cass pictures from the camera into the computer then checked out and drove US 15 north to Interstate 78, which I took east through Harrisburg. I went on Pennsylvania 283 to Lancaster before taking US Highway 30 to Pennsylvania 896 into Strasburg, where I turned onto Pennsylvania 741 which took me to the Strasburg Railroad. I parked the car in the lot to make a quick getaway.
Strasburg Railroad 2-10-0 90, nee Great Western Sugar Company 90 built by Baldwin in 1924. The Great Western of Colorado Railroad was founded in 1901 to serve the Great Western Sugar Company and other sugar, beet and molasses companies operating in Colorado. 90 spent over forty years hauling forty- to fifty-car sugar beet trains between the Great Western's Loveland, Longmont, Windsor, Johnstown and Eaton, Colorado factories. It was purchased by the Strasburg in 1968 for $50,000 and is the railroad's youngest locomotive, as well as the most powerful. It is also currently the only operating decapod in the United States.
The Strasburg Railroad engine house.
Station scene. I walked to the Business Office and was taken to the ticket office to get my ticket for the 11:00 AM train then was given a tour of the cars to be used on the train today.
Each passenger car has at least one coal heater for winter service.
Strasburg Railroad parlour-observation car 88 "Marian", ex. Strasburg Railroad "Pequea Creek" 1971, nee Boston and Maine 1393 built by Laconia Car Company in 1910. The Strasburg Rail Road purchased the car in January 1971 and in 1988, transformed the car into the top-of-the-line luxury railcar. Its name of "Marian" is in honor of the Strasburg Rail Road Company’s first corporate secretary and the wife of William M. Moedinger, the third president of the tourist company. Marian Moedinger was one of the original 24 shareholders who helped revive the railroad in 1958 and save it from abandonment.
Strasburg Railroad parlour car 75 "Henry K. Long", nee Boston and maine 1293 built by Laconia Car Company in 1910. After it was retired from service, it was sold to the Strasburg Rail Road where two years later, the car entered service. Its name of "Henry K. Long" is in honor of the first president of the revived Strasburg Rail Road Company, Henry Keiper Long. Long was president of his family's business, Lancaster Champion Blower & Forge, and spearheaded the effort to save and revive the Strasburg Rail Road in 1957–1958.
Strasburg Railroad dining car 93 "Lee E. Brenner", nee Boston and Maine 1271 built by Laconia Car Company in 1909. It is named in honor of the Strasburg Rail Road Company's second president who served briefly from 1963 to 1964.
The Strasburg Railroad dining car menu.
Strasbug Railroad coach 105 "Warren E. Brenner", nee Western Maryland parlour-smoker 814 built by Barney and Smith in 1912. This car ran until 1967 when it was sold to the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission (state railroad museum) and was traded to the Strasburg Rail Road in 1970. It is named in honor of the Strasburg Rail Road's long-time corporate treasurer (served 1967–2000) and one of the original organizers of the revived company in 1958-1959.
Strasburg Railroad coach 65 "Walnut Hollow", nee Philadelphia and Reading 1319 built by Harland and Hollinsgsworth in 1910. It was retired from the Reading Railroad in 1957 and arrived at Strasburg in 1965 with "SPEED" lettering. By 1967, it was rebuilt for Strasburg Rail Road’s growing passenger service. It is named in honor of the neighboring farm just to the north of the Strasburg Rail Road.
Strasburg Railroad coach 72 "Mill Creek", nee Boston and Maine 1211 built by Pullman in 1906. It came to Strasburg in 1969 and appeared in the movie "Wild, Wild West" in 1998. It is named in honor of the local waterway, which is a feeder creek into the Conestoga River.
Strasburg Railroad open air car 71 "Daffodil Spring", nee Boston and Maine coach 1173 built by Pullman in 1904. Retired in 1966, it was acquired by the Strasburg Rail Road shortly thereafter and entered service in 1973. It is named in honor of a farm located along the Strasburg Rail Road line.
Strasburg Railroad open air car "Hello Dolly", nee Boston and Maine coach 856 built by Pullman in 1896. It arrived in Strasburg in 1966 and two years later, was prominently featured in 20th Century Fox's production of the movie- musical "Hello, Dolly!" and was named in honor of this.
I was then given a private shop tour.
View inside the locomotive shop.
Cab of Strasburg Railroad 0-6-0 7312.
The tender from Rio Grande Southern 2-8-0 20. We then entered the restoration shop.
Rio Grande Southern 2-8-0 20 undergoing what would become a fourteen-year restoration.
One of the Strasburg Railroad coaches undergoing restoration.
Pennsylvania Railroad caboose 476087 built by the railroad in 1905, being worked on.
Strasburg Railroad business car "Reading", nee Philadelphia & Reading 10 built by Harlan and Hollinsgworth in 1913. It was the President's business car, acquired by "Strasburg Enterprises" in 1964, purchased by the Strasburg Railroad Company and restored to Philadelphia & Reading livery in 2002.
Engines awaiting loving care.
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Strasburg Railroad 2-8-2 37, ex. Historic Red Clay Valley Incorporated 1980, exx. Melvyn Small, Jr. 1976, exxx. Wawa and Concordville 37 1966, exxxx. Frank Bayliss 1962, exxxxx. Pacific Lumber Company 37 1935, nee Sugar Pine Lumber Company 4 built by American Locomotive Company/Brooks in 1925.
Strasburg 20 ton gasoline engine 1 built by Plymouth in 1926.
An unknown steam engine.
Reading 0-4-0 Camelback 1187 built by Baldwin in 1903. After a long career switching cars in yards for its owner (and its successor, the re-organized Reading Company), the engine was sold into industrial use with the E&G Brooke Iron Company in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania and re-numbered 4. The Strasburg Railroad in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania acquired the engine in 1962, and it was run to Strasburg under its own power. The little Camelback proved too light for most of Strasburg's trains, and it last ran in 1967. After being displayed in the Strasburg yard as well as at the neighboring Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, the engine was eventually deemed surplus. Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum purchased 1187, and the engine arrived at the Roundhouse on August 3rd, 2020.
Strasburg Railroad 44 ton switcher 9331, nee Pennsylvania Railroad 9331 built by General Electric in 1948 and acquired in 1966.
Strasburg Railroad SW8 8618, nee New York Central 8618 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1952.
Lancaster, Oxford & Southern motor car 10 built by Sanders Machine Shop of Havre de Grace, Maryland. It is the last remaining piece of rolling stock from that long-forgotten little railroad. Sometime after 1919, Car 10 was sold to the Grasse River Railroad in New York State where it remained until 1960. That year, the motorcar was sold to Winston Gottschalk of the Strasburg Rail Road. After a second full restoration between 1991 and 1997, the car re-entered revenue passenger service and has remained in service ever since.
The train was ready to depart for Paradise at 11:00 AM.
The Strasburg Tower and rear of our train. I walked across the street for a few quick photographs of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania's outside collection.
Pennsylvania Railroad 4-6-2 3750 built by Pennsylvania Railroad in 1920 and Pennsylvania Railroad 4-8-2 6755 built by Pennsylvania Railroad in 1930.
Amtrak E60 603 built by General Electric in 1975.
and Pennsylvania Railroad DD-1 class electric locomotive 3937 built by Pennsylvania Railroad and Westinghouse Electric in 1911.
With that I had a train to catch and boarded coach "Mill Creek" for my trip to Paradise.
Strasburg RailroadThe Strasburg Rail Road (reporting mark SRC) is the oldest continuously-operating railroad in the western hemisphere and the oldest public utility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1832, the Strasburg Rail Road continues to operate under its original charter and original name (Strasburg Rail Road Company). Located just outside of the town of Strasburg, Pennsylvania, the railroad is a heritage railroad offering excursion trains, hauled by steam locomotives, through the heart of world-famous Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Strasburg currently has five serviceable historic steam locomotives (Canadian National 7312, Canadian National 89, Great Western 90, Norfolk and Western 475, Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal 15 (rebuilt as Thomas the Tank Engine) on its roster and has the nation's largest fleet of historic wooden passenger coaches in operation. The Strasburg Rail Road is also one of the few railroads in the United States to occasionally use steam locomotives to haul revenue freight trains. It hosts 300,000 visitors per year.
Strasburg Rail Road is a shortline railroad whose construction in the 19th century was intended to connect the town of Strasburg with the main line. Today, the original 4.5 mile line carries passengers on a 45-minute round-trip journey from Strasburg to Leaman Place Junction through nearly 2,000 acres in south-eastern Lancaster County.
The train includes the United States' only operational wooden dining car on which visitors may dine while riding. Attractions at the station include the fully operational 15 inch gauge Pint-Sized Pufferbelly (Cagney steam-powered ridable miniature railway) a vintage pump car and several c.1930s "cranky cars" along with several gift shops and a cafe.
In addition to the excursion train rides, Strasburg Rail Road mechanical and car shops conduct contract work for a wide variety of public and private clients including fellow steam railroads, train museums, attractions and more. Strasburg Rail Road's freight department facilitates the carrying of goods to and from the main line for a number of local and regional clients. In 2016, it was announced that they are to expand their shop an extra 12,000 square feet due to the increase of jobs from other railroads.
By the 1820s, the canal system had replaced the Conestoga Wagon as the primary method of long-distance transportation. When the Susquehanna Canal opened, the majority of goods were directed through Baltimore, Maryland rather than Philadelphia. The small amount of goods that were destined for Philadelphia traveled via a wagon road through Strasburg. Philadelphia attempted to reclaim its position as a major port city by constructing the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in 1831. A railroad was easier and more cost effective to build than a canal. Because the new railroad would bypass Strasburg and cause Strasburg to lose its livelihood, a group of businessmen petitioned the state government for the right to build their own railroad to connect Strasburg to the Philadelphia and Columbia. A charter was issued by the Pennsylvania Legislature with the signature of Governor George Wolf on June 9, 1832 to "incorporate the Strasburg rail road".
Although the pre-1852 history of the Strasburg Rail Road is sketchy, it is believed that the line was graded in 1835 and was operational by 1837. The railroad operated as a horse-drawn railroad until it purchased a second-hand Norris-built, 4-2-0 steam locomotive named the William Penn in 1851. Controlling interest in the railroad was purchased by John F. and Cyrus N. Herr in 1863. The rails were replaced around the same time with heavier ones to accommodate the locomotive. In 1866, the Herrs were granted a charter to extend the Strasburg Rail Road to Quarryville; surveys were carried out, but the extension was eventually canceled because of an economic depression in 1867. Isaac Groff managed The Strasburg Rail Road for about 20 years until the destructive fire of January 16, 1871 which destroyed the depot, grist, and merchant-mill, planing-mill and machine-shop. In one night, over fifty thousand dollars' worth of property was destroyed. In 1878, the Strasburg Rail Road and the shops were sold. The railroad was eventually again sold in 1888 to the Edward Musselman, with the Musselmans retaining control of it until 1918, when it was purchased by State Senator John Homsher. By this time, the number of passengers had dropped off due to tracks for the Conestoga Traction Company's streetcars reaching Strasburg in 1908, which offered a more direct route between Lancaster and Strasburg.
In 1926, the Strasburg Rail Road purchased a 20-short-ton, gasoline-powered, Plymouth switcher-the only locomotive that was ever built specifically for the Strasburg Rail Road. By 1958, the railroad fell on hard times from a cumulative effect of years of declining freight business and infrequent runs, damage caused by Hurricane Hazel, and inspectors from the Interstate Commerce Commission's lack of approval for operation of Plymouth locomotive 4. Upon the death of Bryson Homsher, the Homsher estate filed for abandonment with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Hearing of the potential abandonment, an effort to purchase and save the railroad was organized by Henry K. Long and Donald E. L. Hallock, both railfans from Lancaster. They organized a small, non-profit group to purchase the railroad. After the better part of a year of hard work, the purchase was completed on November 1, 1958. The following week, on November 8, the first carload of revenue freight was hauled to what was then the only customer, a mill in Strasburg.
The Trip
The train departed on time.
Passing the engines I just had photographed.
Heading out into the farmlands.
The Red Caboose Motel came into view, where I had stayed during my last visit.
The Red Caboose Motel.
A very large turkey farm.
The first farm of the late morning.
Two views ahead.
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A part of the corn maze attraction here.
The picnic grove where people will be dropped off on the return trip.
Views along our route.
Curving into Paradise. I walked back to the "Hello Dolly" for the return trip to Strasburg.
Strasburg 90 ran around the train.
