Man, you won't believe this !!

[Anonymous]

My wife comes up to me the other day and says, "we should take the kids (3 & 5) to Steamtown and Altoona this summer". OMG, what a woman, I had to say yes, twist my arm (not toooooo hard [:D]) We went last year, to Steamtown, for a few hours and I must say, everybody loved it. Are there any other museums or any other things of interest to the Railfan in these areas that we should take in?
We're coming down from the Toronto area so a few hours in any direction is good.
Thanks

[Anonymous]

As Scranton is in eastern mountains, the next attraction that I can think of is in Lancaster Pa. It is about 4 hours from Scranton depending on traffic volume. The Strasburg RR is there along with the RR Museum of PA (Across the road from Strasburg RR and a few other railroad related places such as the Toy Trains of America Association which if memory serves holds virtually every peice of "Model" (Ahem Timplate and otherwise) railroad items since World War One. There is even (Or was) a Caboose Hotel to sleep in a real caboose. I dont know if they are still in business since I slept in one some 23 years ago. You could see the morning preparations of Strasburg RR as in getting the steam up and ready to run the tourists.

[2c]

[Anonymous]

I would double strasburg & RR Mus. of PA. Haven't been there for 10 years, but i did enjoy it. I think there is a narrow guage line near Altoona called East broad top or something, But I haven't been there so I can't vouch for it.

About 1 hour 45 min.s (Mapquest estimate) from altoona, in Cumberland Maryland is the Western Maryland Scenic railroad, and another 1 hour 45 mins (Mapquest) from that is the Museum I work at in Brunswick (could come visit me at work), with the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum in between. There are a few other small museums in Maryland as well, but the major one (The B&O rr museum in baltimore) may or may not still be closed when you come down (Visit their site borail.org if you want to see if it is open by then. Part of their roundhouse roof collapsed on some of their really historic pieces of rolling stock, and they are still rebuilding.

[JoeKoh]

The Nickel Plate museum in Bellevue Ohio is good. We also made stops in Deshler Findlay and Fostoria.Matt and Mamma had fun.
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

I only live about 30 mins from Strasburg PA. I make several trips per year. The Strasburg RR is real nice. They even have Thomas the Tank Engine for young fans. The museum is excellent. The last time I was there they were in the middle of re-building they model HO layout. They have several layouts (sizes) that they allow kids to run.

Also, if the wife gets bored, just a few miles away are 100's of outlets stores.

I have also been to Bellevue Ohio. It was great!

[Anonymous]

Here's a good website with a listing of all the railroad attractions in Pennsylvania:
http://www.denverrails.com/db/attrcts/stlist.cfm?state=PA
Also, you can find railroad attractions in any other state on the site at:
http://www.denverrails.com/db/attrcts/stsearch.cfm

[tree68]

Adirondack Scenic in Thendara, NY would be a bit off your track, even if you travel down I-81 from the Thousand Islands, but still a nice visit to the Adirondack region if you have the time. Not as far off I-81 is the Rail City Museum at Sandy Pond (between Watertown and Syracuse on NYS 3), a display about one of the country's first living rail museums/theme park. You'll have to research that very carefully, though. last I knew it was closed while they looked for a way to get it open again, probably using volunteers.

Check on the status of the B&O museum in Baltimore - Should be in good shape by then, if it's not open again already (haven't checked...)

Check on the Steamtown excursion schedule - it would be worthwhile to plan your trip around at least one ride there. Strasburg runs daily, as I recall, so you can always get a ride there. Will also concur with PA museum at Strasburg - very nice.

Enjoy your trip!

[Anonymous]

Larry, as I posted earlier, the B&O may open in the summer. Current condition:
-Main roof completely removed and rebuilding complete (Except for final placement of slate tile, this was the one that had the panels collapse)
-The problem that caused the collapse was a missing type of beam, and they forund the two smaller rooves are missing them as well, so now they have to replace those
-They are going to construct a new repair facility where you can watch them repair and maintain their trains (it would give them less need to send cars to strasburg for asbestos and lead removal
-they have found the original paint colors for the roundhouse (While removing the lead paint from the walls) and will repaint the wals those colors (Black & white)
-So far, they have only restored caboose #c.2222, all other damaged rolling stock is still in the roundhouse
-They will insall more handicapp accassability measures before opening

I have been keeping up with the museum from the updates (with pictures) they place on their site borail.org/home.asp. But they have said they hope to be open by at least next fall, if not sooner. Just thought Id clear that up.[2c][:-^]