Railroad Museum

On Wednesday, June 26th, after our visit to the Amish Village, Klaus and I drove off to the nearby Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.  This is located across the street from the Strasburg Railroad, the oldest operating short-line railroad in the U.S.

The core of the museum's collection of engines, cars, and memorabilia was assembled by the Pennsylvania Railroad for the New York World's Fair in 1939-40.  Included was a replica of the 1831 John Bull steam locomotive, built in 1939.  The Pennsy's original John Bull ("John Bull" is a personification of the United Kingdom") had been transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. a few years earlier.

After the Fair the Pennsy's collection went into storage, and over the years was augmented with new additions.  Then, in the early 1960s the railroad found it necessary to cut costs by eliminating its collection of historic railroad artifacts.  Selling off this material would have been a terrible loss.  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania stepped in by creating the Railroad Museum.  Much of the collection is now stored indoors in a building especially designed to house it.

Replicas of 19th century stores line a "street" in the museum.

Klaus photographs part of the children's railroad education
section, which includes scale model trains.

We toured this Reading Railroad commuter car...

...and a Huntingdon & Broad Top caboose.
From here the crew could monitor the train for problems.  

The extent of the collection is quite impressive — considerably greater, I believe, than that of the railroad museum in Roanoke, VA, which I visited a few weeks ago.  Volunteers are on site to explain how certain artifacts were used, such as the commuter car and caboose shown above.

The original John Bull...

...and the museum's working replica.

No. 4935 was built in 1943 and served, mostly in passenger
transportation, until 1983.  Since its numbers added up to 21,
train crews christened it "Blackjack".

Klaus goes nose-to-camera with a diesel locomotive.

Helping, as I do, with our local lighthouse museum at Presque Isle, I am becoming more aware of how museums acquire, repair, display, and explain their artifacts.  The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania provides comprehensive information on most of its exhibits, and the condition of its collection is truly impressive.  Even the oldest engines look like they just rolled out of the shops!

No. 1223 looks almost brand new...

...and the museum's explanation of its history is impressive.
This engine starred in the 1941 film "Broadway Limited" (named
for the legendary PRR train between New York City and Chicago)
and the 1969 movie version of the musical "Hello, Dolly."

Operating a railroad took — and still takes — a lot of
"grunt work" by dedicated employees.  This diorama
shows a line crew working on the rail bed.

This detail delighted me!  The doors of the museum shop,
when opened, spell "RR" for "Railroad."
I wonder who thought that up?!

A wise museum serves one generation while cultivating the next.  The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania does this by offering lots of activities for children, including a mid-August weekend for Harry Potter fans.  Young people (and adults?) participating in the Hogwarts Express event are invited to dress up in their best wizard or witch robes, take out their wands, and cast a spell or two.  It's a great way to learn about railroading! •••