Getting There
The trip to the States is almost routine I've done it a dozen times already this year, flight time is 7 hours. The BA Boeing 777 is comfortable, but you hope the pilot isn't flying to the time shown on the computerised map in front of you. Looks like someone has mucked up the programming, and the flight time it's computed is an hour less than reality. At one point it was telling us we were flying at 3,000 knots over Boston with only 10 minutes to get to Philadelphia. Concorde, eat your heart out! That said, we still touch down on time and trundle to the gate.

Where's My Car?
I get a smile from the immigration man when I tell him I'm here to play trains. Through customs and off to find the pre-booked car. No problem with the paperwork, but where's the car? In fact there's several of us waiting for cars. So back in the rental office - it's darned hot outside - no-one seems to know what's going on. 10, 20, 30 minutes and still no cars. Tempers are getting a bit frayed. There's a guy wearing a dog collar before me, and he's muttering very uncharitable things. After about 45 minutes, there's no room in the office for us and the line is still getting longer. Outside it's very hot and sticky. At last the man who can move the cars arrives, and about an hour later I'm on I95, heading south out of town. I don't think I'll be using Dollar again.

The Pennsylvania Railroad Museum
The week goes quickly, and Saturday is fresh and sunny, cooler and less humid than during the week - and I prefer cooler. So an hours drive to 'Amish Country', which centres around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum. Now the museum makes it clear it's dedicated to the Pennsylvania Railroad and isn't a general American railways museum. Fair enough, they don't have a 'Big Boy', but what they have got takes most of the day to look at.

There's the covered area where most of the older and more unique locos are kept, starting with a replica of the first steam loco in the States, John Bull, purchased from Stephenson & Co, Newcastle, in 1832. In fact George Stephenson pulled a bit of a fast one here. The loco was built for an English railway which went broke before delivery, so George had a spare loco on his hands. When the Americans ordered a loco, the canny northerner charged a premium for early delivery. Either that, or the Americans couldn't understand the Geordie accent and just paid too much..

Outside is a large turntable and a number of tracks radiating from it. There are steam, suburban diesel and electric locos spread around, along with a fair amount of rolling stock of all vintages. The outside exhibits aren't so well cared for, metal moth (rust) is apparent on almost all of them. Oddly, there's a rake of  stainless steel coaches that are held together with ordinary galvanised pop rivets, and so, appear to be suffering from some disease where the brown pock marks go in regular rows - really bizarre to look at.

The sad site is #757, which looks in good condition until you get close up. The piston rods have been cut off and half the valve gear is missing. But the real expensive news is the boiler is rusting through around the foundation ring. Looks like it wasn't drained down properly. A tribe of feral cats was nesting in the ash pan - no kidding. I wonder if it'll ever steam again, and if so at what cost.

Shunting loco #1187 is a weird looking beast and appears in equally bad condition, but on closer inspection, the only serious damage seems to be the wooden cab is rotting. Most of the rest of it seems sound. They also have #4800, the prototype of one of the most successful electric locos ever built. It looks Ok for now, but a few hard winters outside won't do it much good. Under cover they have a second one in ex-workshop condition, but that's no excuse for letting the original rot away.

The Strasburg Railroad
Over the road, literally opposite, is the Strasburg Railroad. A live steam railway, which runs about 7 miles through Amish farms to a place called Paradise. Here the railway fetches up against the Amtrak main line and it's obvious that with a bit of track switching the heaviest locos and rolling stock can be sent to and from the Strasburg Railroad or the Museum. 

Just in case anyone notices some inconsistency with the photos, they were taken over two days, the Saturday I've already said was bright and sunny, and quite hot by afternoon. The Sunday was overcast and about mid-day it rained. But it all cleared up and went back to pleasant and sunny.

The railroad is open all year and runs trips every hour, every half hour at busy times. This particular weekend they're on a half hour schedule from 10 in the morning till 4 in the afternoon. Two complete trains are running on the single track line, which has a passing point about halfway. Both engines are small (by American standards) and were made by Baldwin. #475, an 8-coupled goods engine was built in 1906, and looks well cared for and ready to run for another 50 years. #31, a 6-coupled goods is slightly younger, being built in 1911, and looks equally healthy.

All the coaches have been recently restored in the case of the saloon cars, and rebuilt in the case of the open sided observation cars. Each train consists of about 12 cars. One or two cars are special. They have a 'Directors' lounge car with very plush seating and air conditioning. They also have a rather nice looking (I didn't get to try it) restaurant car and you can pre-book your meals before you ride.

The well appointed Strasburg station tries to appear 1900-ish, but the present day needs of visitors rather spoil the idea. I'm sure they didn't have a Coke machine on the platform in them days and the station restaurant is over large for the number of passengers they would have had back then. But the restaurant manages to cross that fine line between authenticity and 'tat for the tourists'. You can get a good hearty meal (of the soup and burger kind) for a few dollars, and if you time it right (just before the 1 o'clock train leaves), you can actually get a seat. You've got to get smart about this though, as you have to be in the restaurant queue before the people getting off the train realise it's feeding time, at the same time as the people booked on the next ride realise they have to eat up or they'll miss the train.

It's difficult to tell if the Railroad has any other running engines, the engine sheds are closed and visitors are discouraged - whether this is "For Your Safety and Protection" idiot speak, security (Who'd want to steal a train?, but that line's been used before), or shear bloody mindedness, I don't know. What I do know is they don't encourage visitors to explore the site. Although no-one actually told me I wasn't allowed to explore the stock parked in the sidings - I got the impression those who saw me couldn't figure out who I was, or whether I had permission. They just watched as if I was going to pocket some vital souvenir. Don't you hate it when you don't know the rules, and you can't find anyone who knows the rules, but to play safe, simply say NO!

What I did find round the back of the sheds was the remains of a 6-coupled tender engine with no identification. The firebox had been cut down to the foundation ring, so it won't go again without a new boiler. But the rest of it was in fair shape with a number of refurbished parts lying around near by. I'll look forward to seeing this one running in about 5 years time.

If you ever try the RR Museum and the Strasburg RR, and only have one day - lets face it, you'd have to be a railroad freak to spend more than one day - then, remember the Museum will let you back in so long as you keep your ticket. So arrive nice and early and park in the Strasburg RR lot and buy a ticket for, say, the 2 o'clock train. Then go to the museum. Around 12:40, leave the museum, and get in the RR restaurant queue. Have a leisurely lunch, and then take your train trip. Then you can spend the rest of the day either back in the museum or exploring the RR - your choice.

Will I go again. You bet, as long as someone pays the air fares to Philadelphia, then I'll go and play railways. Maybe next time I get a day or so off, I'll go to the Steam Railroad National Park. That's a bit further away, but the internet site appears interesting.

Updated: 20/07/03