A Slow Train to Paradise - The Strasburg Railroad

 

Strasburg Railroad was founded in 1832 and served through World Wars I and II. By 1958, victim of diminishing freight revenues and a series of destructive storms, the railroad had descended into inoperability and a petition had been filed for abandonment. A group of rail enthusiasts/investors purchased the line and over the years the tourist operation has grown from one gasoline locomotive and passenger car to the wonderful collection of restored historic rolling stock and thriving operation it is today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At each end of the trip between Strasburg and Paradise the locomotive runs around the train. The locomotive is always on the leading end of the train, although when running from Strasburg to Paradise the locomotive is backing up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's time to take a ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paradise, Pennsylvania. In the words of the conductor, "Take a good look, folks. This may be as close as some of you get to Paradise."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting at Groff's Grove to meet the opposing train.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all for Strasburg. Across the road is the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

Fantastic!

What a great attraction. Good to see so many young people at these excursion and tourist lines. I remember doing a photo montage of several lines in Kentucky, and they were filled during the summer with children from across the U.S. Very popular today... giving us hope for the future!

someone tell john milton, asap, hes been waiting for this.  Smells like Americana to me, thanks for sharing!  Photos are crisp as a fall morning.

someone tell john milton, asap, hes been waiting for this.  Smells like Americana to me, thanks for sharing!  Photos are crisp as a fall morning.

 

My morning coffee is only beginning to take effect, and it took a minute for that to soak in. Now, I'm still chuckling as I type this.

 

And yes, it does smell like Americana - literally. The mainline steam era ended during my teen years, and the mingled aromas of coal smoke, steam and hot oil still bring flashbacks to times spent waiting at railroad crossings as trains passed, and sounds associated with detraining at age 5 from an Erie Railroad passenger train in Chicago's Dearborn Station and walking up the platform with Dad past the locomotive with its hissing steam, panting air pumps and whining generator.

 

Earlier on the day I took these photos there had been rain, and the cool temperatures and high humidity caused the vapor clouds to hang in the air a while before dissipating. Cool, moist, cloudy weather is best for photographing steam railroading, and the diffuse light makes it easier to capture steam locomotives' more intricate machinery that is often hidden in shadows.

 

What a great attraction. Good to see so many young people at these excursion and tourist lines. I remember doing a photo montage of several lines in Kentucky, and they were filled during the summer with children from across the U.S. Very popular today... giving us hope for the future!

 

I believe we have Thomas the Tank Engine to thank for the rabid enthusiasm of young boys for trains. I have two grand-nephews, both just past their third birthdays, and both go nuts at the sight of a locomotive or sound of a whistle or air horn. Their enthusiasm doesn't show any sign of abating just yet, and their dads encourage them.

 

Ten years or so down the road they'll probably be distracted by the onset of puberty, but after several years of the frustration and disillusionment that inevitably brings, hopefully they'll return to their true love for steel wheels on steel rails.

^ I agree, when I was younger (not so long ago) I wanted to be a train conductor so bad... had the electric train set, only about ten feet of track but I cant tell you how many times I took apart that track and made new shapes and took sticks and tried to make it look like the professional dioramas etc... I sometimes forget how into trains I used to be.  thanks again!