|
Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) is a heritage railway and museum located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is built around and incorporates a working turntable and roundhouse, which includes two original roundhouse sections built in 1902 and 1937. A scene on a heritage railway. ...
The Scranton Electric Building, seen from the side. ...
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company (DL&W or Lackawanna) (AAR reporting mark DLW) was a railroad connecting Pennsylvanias Lackawanna Valley, rich in anthracite coal, to New York City, Buffalo and Oswego, New York. ...
A small turntable at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. In rail terminology, a turntable is a device used to turn railroad rolling stock. ...
Roundhouse in 1909, turntable in the front Steam locomotives sit in the Chicago and Northwestern roundhouse at the Chicago, Illinois freight yards, December 1942. ...
1902 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...
1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
 Overview of Steamtown NHS Image File history File links Download high resolution version (839x463, 101 KB)View of Steamtown National Historic Site (from an illustration by Richard Schlecht) is taken from a pamphlet for Steamtown by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior and as U.S. government work...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (839x463, 101 KB)View of Steamtown National Historic Site (from an illustration by Richard Schlecht) is taken from a pamphlet for Steamtown by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior and as U.S. government work...
History
Established by an act of Congress on October 30, 1986, Steamtown officially opened to the public in the summer of 1995, and celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2005. Congress established Steamtown to interpret the story of main line steam railroading between 1850 and 1950. A congress is a gathering of people, especially a gathering for a political purpose. ...
October 30 is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 62 days remaining. ...
1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Much of the collection of steam (and a few diesel) locomotives and freight and passenger cars was originally part of 'Steamtown USA'. That collection was originally assembled by the late F. Nelson Blount and was located in several places in the northeast United States before moving from Bellows Falls, Vermont, to Scranton in 1984. Blount's death in an airplane accident in 1967 had cut off the main financial support for 'Steamtown USA', but much of his original dream to have a museum in a working railroad yard with excursions on steam trains and a functional locomotive shop has been realized at Steamtown NHS. Great Western Railway No. ...
Restored passenger cars on display at the Mid Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, WI. A passenger car is a piece of railroad rolling stock that is designed to carry passengers. ...
A railroad car (or, more briefly, car), also known as an item of rolling stock in British parlance, is a vehicle on a railroad or railway that is not a locomotive - one that provides another purpose than purely haulage, although some types of car are powered. ...
F. Nelson Blount was president and founder of Blount Seafood Corporation, and as a millionaire collector of vintage steam locomotives and rail cars, he founded Steamtown USA, whose collection is the basis of Steamtown National Historic Site. ...
Bellows Falls is a village located in Windham County, Vermont. ...
1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Museum and Collection
 View of the turntable and museum / roundhouse Steamtown NHS is located within a working railroad yard and incorporates the surviving elements of the DL&W Scranton roundhouse and locomotive repair shops. The new Visitor Center, Theater, Technology and History Museums are built in the style of and on the site of the missing portions of the original roundhouse, giving the impression of what the complete structure was like. (The 1902 roundhouse was originally a complete circle). Image File history File links Steamtown_NHS_Turntable. ...
Image File history File links Steamtown_NHS_Turntable. ...
Chicago and North Western Railways Proviso Yard in Chicago, Illinois, December 1942. ...
Visitors can see museum exhibits about the history and technology of steam railroads in the United States and Pennsylvania, as well as see many locomotives and freight and passenger cars on display. Some locomotives on display are open so that visitors can climb in and see the controls. A mail car, railroad executives' passenger car (with dining room and sleeping / lounge areas), a boxcar, two cabooses, and a recreated DL&W station with ticket window are also open to walk through. A steam locomotive with cutaway sections helps visitors undertand the operation of steam engines better. Part of one of the 1865 roundhouse inspection pits uncovered in archeological excavations is also preserved in situ, under glass. State nickname: The Keystone State Other U.S. States Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Governor Ed Rendell (D) Official languages None Area 119,283 km² (33rd) - Land 116,074 km² - Water 3,208 km² (2. ...
Categories: Stub | Passenger equipment | Postal system ...
A boxcar (the American term; the British call this kind of car a goods van) is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to hold freight. ...
Two cupola cabooses, a transfer caboose and a bay window caboose in Ohio. ...
1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ...
Other exhibits include the history of early railroads, life on the railroad, the relationship between railroads in terms of business, labor, and government, and the history of the DL&W. There is a short film shown throughout the day in the theater.
Demonstrations, Tours and Excursions
 Canadian National #3254 steam engine waiting to pull two passenger cars on a tour of the Steamtown NHS yard Steamtown NHS offers a variety of demostrations, tours, and excursions that show how railroads functioned in the age of steam. Park rangers give guided tours of the locomotive shop (where you can see work being done on the steam engines in the original roundhouse area), talks on the history of Steamtown, the Union Pacific Big Boy locomotive on display, and demonstrations of the turntable on a regular basis. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (953x541, 93 KB)Photo of Canadian National steam engine #3254 pulling two passenger cars at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, August 2005. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (953x541, 93 KB)Photo of Canadian National steam engine #3254 pulling two passenger cars at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, August 2005. ...
Big Boy #4012 at work on a cold November 29, 1941. ...
Several working locomotives take visitors on short excursions through the 16 plus hectare (40 plus acre) Scranton yard in the spring, summer, and fall. Most are on passenger coaches, but there are also caboose and hand car rides offered. These rides are included in the admission, although reservations may be required. A hectare (symbol ha) is a unit of area. ...
An acre is an English unit of area. ...
Longer excursions are scheduled with separate tickets. These include a ride on a Pullman coach and longer trips to several nearby towns, including the Lackawanna River valley and Carbondale, Tobyhanna and Moscow, Pennsylvania. The Lackawanna River is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately 35 mi (56 km) long, in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. ...
Carbondale is a city located in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. ...
Tobyhanna Township is a township located in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. ...
Moscow is a borough located in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. ...
Criticisms
 Neglected rail cars in the Steamtown NHS yard Steamtown was considered by many, especially the mass media to be a "pork barrel" project prior to its building. Some have criticized the United States National Park Service, which runs Steamtown, for using mostly working Canadian locomotives, although many American locomotives and cars are on display. While the collection within the museum and the rolling stock for rides are in excellent, restored condition, as of 2005 some of the locomotives and cars in the rail yard are in poor condition, with rust, and some broken windows and roof holes. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (496x676, 90 KB)Photo of neglected rail cars in yard at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, August 2005. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (496x676, 90 KB)Photo of neglected rail cars in yard at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, August 2005. ...
Mass media is a term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience (typically at least as large as the whole population of a nation state). ...
Pork barrel (or pork barrel politics) is a derogatory term used to describe government spending that is intended to enrich constituents of a politician in return for their political support, either in the form of campaign contributions or votes. ...
The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States Federal Government agency that deals with all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation properties with various designations. ...
Nearby Attractions The Electric City Trolley Museum is located at the other end of the Steamtown parking lot and offers trolley excursions ('Electric City' is a nickname for Scranton as it was the first city in the United States to have a completely electric streetcar system in 1886). 1886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ...
There is a walkway to the Mall at Steamtown, but this closes when Steamtown NHS does.
Also within walking distance is the 1908 Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Station, now a Radisson hotel. This is on the National Register of Historic Places, as are several other sites associeted with railroads in Scranton. 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Passengers bustle around the typical grand edifice of Londons Broad Street station in 1865. ...
The National Register of Historic Places is the USAs official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. ...
See also List of heritage railways is a link page for any heritage railway anywhere. ...
External links Steamtown sites:
Nearby Attractions:
|
Feeds |
Contact