Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is on Pennsylvania Route 741 just east of Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The museum is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, with the active support of the Friends of the Railroad Museum.
The museum has more than 100 historic locomotives and railroad cars that chronicle American society on the move. Visitors may take the throttle on a simulated run in a real freight locomotive cab, climb aboard a caboose, inspect a 62-ton locomotive from underneath, view restoration activities via closed-circuit television, enjoy interactive educational programs, and more.
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania was created to provide a historical account of railroading in Pennsylvania by preserving rolling stock, artifacts, and archives of railroads and trolley companies of the Commonwealth.
Rolling Stock Collection
The nucleus of the collection of more than a hundred locomotives and cars comes from the historical collection of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Over time, the company had saved examples of their main classes of steam motive power, either for display or posterity. Unfortunately, they saved examples of engines considered to be successful, thus no examples of classes J, Q, S, T were saved. Engines were quietly stored in the engine facility of Northumberland, PA. A few engines were officially cosmetically restored, while thoughtful employees took it upon themselves to clean up and paint other engines (see Morning Sun's Pennsyvlania Railroad Hudson to Horseshoe). With the state looking to establish a railroad museum and PRR successor Penn Central Railroad looking to rid itself of the collection and also to be cleared of back taxes, the engines were moved piecemeal to the new museum in Strasburg. Additional equipment has come through private and public donations, in addition to limited sales.
Building and Grounds
The initial display building opened in 1975, featuring an operating turntable from the Reading Company. In June of 1995, a trainshed like addition opened, doubling the indoor display capacity. A newly designed entrance way and gift shop were opened summer of 2007.
Concerns
During the initial site selection period, there was much debate of various options, including Northumberland, Altoona etc. Ironically, a recreated roundhouse has been tentatively planned for the roundhouse area to provide much needed cover for rolling stock.
Although PRR engines 1223, 7002 and the John Bull replica have operated since the establishment of the museum, there have been desires to see more engines returned to operating condition. However, the state has chosen to leave the engines as static displays citing the preservation of historical integrity. Given the limited trackage on site, the current mainline steam excursion climate, and being able to see operating steam across the street at the Strasburg Railroad, this stance is not likely to change.
PRR K4 engine #3750 was once renumbered to represent class pioneer PRR #1737. The PRR wished to display #1737 but since the original engine was in deplorable condition, engine #3750 was renumbered #1737. It has since regained its original number. This was also done in the case of PRR #7002, which is actually engine #8063. Unlike #3750, it has not been restored to its original number.
The core collection is rolling stock from the Pennsylvania Railroad, steam locomotives in particular, and the museum has endeavored to diversify the collection. More modern examples of motive power and equipment from a variety or railroads have been obtained, including rolling stock from the Reading Company, Lehigh Valley, Amtrak, and Conrail in addition to others.
This collection of Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotives is the most representative of any railroad in the East - if not the whole country. Key examples, however, have been lost, such as the PRR T-1 and the PRR J-1. This is due to the bias of the PRR management at the time. While, only several out of hundreds of types of engines were saved, historians and patrons are fortunate that the Pennsylvania Railroad did indeed care enough to save these historic locomotives.
See also
References
- "Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania". Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
