Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
	Entrance to the museum
	Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap
Established	1975
Location	Strasburg, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39°58′57″N 76°9′37″W / 39.98250°N 76.16028°WCoordinates: 39°58′57″N 76°9′37″W / 39.98250°N 76.16028°W
Type	Railroad museum
Director	Patrick C. Morrison
Website	rrmuseumpa.org

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is a railroad museum in Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

The museum is located on the east side of Strasburg along Pennsylvania Route 741. It is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission with the active support of the Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (FRM).

The museum's collection has more than 100 historic locomotives and railroad cars that chronicle American railroad history. Visitors can climb aboard various locomotives and cars, 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 railroad companies of the Commonwealth. However, the museum has branched out over the years, acquiring some pieces that are not directly related to Pennsylvania, but are important to the history of railroading.

In addition to full-size rolling stock pieces, the museum offers a number of other commodities, which include several model railroad layouts, a hands-on educational center, a library and archives, and a smaller exhibit gallery on the second floor.

Building and grounds[]

The initial display building opened in 1975 as the first building constructed to be a railroad museum, and featured an operating turntable from the Reading Company. The original building was roughly 45,000 square feet in size and included an observation bridge leading across Rolling Stock Hall, allowing visitors to see the trains from above. In June 1995, Rolling Stock Hall was enlarged to 100,000 square feet.

Today, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania covers 18 acres. This includes Rolling Stock Hall, a second floor changing-exhibit gallery, an observation bridge, a hands-on education center called Stewart Junction, an extensive library and archives, a restoration and paint shop, and an outdoor storage and display yard. Rolling Stock Hall and the second floor are both handicapped accessible. The yard is subject to weather closure.

A newly designed entrance and gift shop were opened in June 2007. Some larger or more modern engines and cars are displayed outdoors, and a new roundhouse to store some of the larger locomotives is to be built in the near future.^[1]

The National Toy Train Museum, & Choo Choo Barn are located nearby, and the Strasburg Rail Road is across the street from the museum.^[2]

History[]

PRR engine #1223 in operation on the Strasburg Rail Road (1989)

PRR 4800, the original GG1 prototype

PP&L Fireless No. 4094-D

For the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair, the Pennsylvania Railroad had displayed a number of historic locomotives and cars they had collected over the years. After the fair had ended, the PRR, decided to preserve the equipment that was displayed, along with various other locomotives and rolling stock. The equipment was stored away in a roundhouse in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, and looked after by employees.

With the state looking to establish a railroad museum and PRR successor Penn Central looking to rid itself of the collection in the late 1960s, it was decided the museum was to be built directly next to the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The engines were moved to the Strasburg Rail Road, where they were stored while the museum was under construction. A large number of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Historic Collection was sent to Strasburg coupled together, forming the "Train of Trains."

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania was officially opened to the public April 1, 1975. As the museum acquired more equipment, they required more space, so in 1995, Rolling Stock Hall was expanded by 55,000 square feet. Today, the museum covers 18 acres of land, including 100,000 square feet indoors. A roundhouse for the larger locomotives that are currently stored outside was planned for 2018^[2] but had not broken ground as-of January 2019.^[3] In all, the museum holds roughly 100 pieces of rolling stock, some nearing 200 years old.^[2]

Collection[]

Locomotives[]

The collection is made up of more than a hundred historic locomotives and cars, many of which are part of the historical collection of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Following the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair, the PRR placed many of their historic rolling stock aside for preservation. The collection was stored in a roundhouse in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. In 1969, the collection was relocated from Northumberland to Strasburg, where they were stored at the Strasburg Rail Road until the museum's completion in 1975.^[4]

Some of these engines had operated on the Strasburg Railroad for a number of years before being put back on display. PRR 1223, famous for its use in the 1969 film Hello, Dolly!, and PRR 7002 (originally #8063), a re-creation of the famous original PRR #7002, which set an unofficial land speed record in 1905 by traveling at 127.1 miles per hour. Both were leased to the Strasburg Rail Road, and retired permanently in 1989.^[4]

Other historic locomotives are featured at the Museum, including the famous "Lindbergh Engine", PRR 460, which completed a 6-year cosmetic restoration November, 2016, and the oldest PRR locomotive #1187, built in 1888. The 1187 is placed over a pit, so visitors may go underneath and see the locomotive's underside. #1187 got into an accident in 1895 and was barely damaged from the incident, but the smoke box had to be rebuilt and the rebuilt smoke box is still on the locomotive to this day. The official steam locomotive of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania PRR 3750, famous for pulling President Warren Harding's funeral train, is on display outside of the museum. Two replicas are also included in the Pennsylvania Historic Collection, the John Bull (locomotive) (orig. built 1831) and the John Stevens (orig. built 1825).^[4]

Steel Passenger Coach No. 1650

Other locomotives in the collection include two PRR GG1 locomotives, the original prototype PRR 4800 and the PRR #4935, Amtrak E60 #603, and the Tahoe, a 2-6-0 built in 1875 for use on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. They also have two fireless steam locomotives (Bethlehem Steel #111 and #4094-D), and examples of the three most common geared locomotives: a Shay locomotive (Leetonia Railway #1), a Heisler locomotive (Chicago Mill & Lumber Company #4), and a Climax locomotive (W. H. Mason Company #1).^[4]

The museum's most recent acquisition is Amtrak AEM-7 number 915, donated by Amtrak in 2015.^[4]

Solari Board from 30th Street Station awaiting installation.

Cars[]

The museum also has a large collection of rail cars. Many of these are examples of cars seen on the Pennsylvania Railroad, including a P70 passenger car, a B60 Baggage car, and an N5c caboose. There are also several wood bodied freight and passenger cars. Also on display is PRR 1651, one of the first all-steel passenger cars.^[4]

Other[]

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania has a Solari board listing train departure times that was formerly used at Amtrak's 30th Street Station in Philadelphia on static display. The board, created by Solari di Udine, was the last such one at an Amtrak station. It was used until January 26, 2019 when it was removed and replaced with a digital board. The Solari board from 30th Street Station has been on static display at the museum since July 2019.^[5]

List of locomotives[]

Operator	Number	Type or Class	Manufacturer	Builder's No.	Year	Wheel arrangement
Pennsylvania Railroad	1187		PRR, Altoona	1235	1888	2-8-0
Pennsylvania Railroad	1223	D16sb	PRR, Juniata	1399	1905	4-4-0
Pennsylvania Railroad	460	E6s	PRR, Juniata	2860	1914	4-4-2
Pennsylvania Railroad	3750	K4s	PRR, Juniata	3703	1920	4-6-2
Pennsylvania Railroad	7002	E7s	PRR, Altoona		1902	4-4-2
Pennsylvania Railroad	94	A5s	PRR, Juniata	3191	1917	0-4-0
Pennsylvania Railroad	2846	H6sb	Baldwin Locomotive Works	26744	1905	2-8-0
Pennsylvania Railroad	5741	G5s	PRR, Juniata	3966	1924	4-6-0
Pennsylvania Railroad	520	L1s	Baldwin Locomotive Works	44565	1916	2-8-2
Pennsylvania Railroad	7688	H10s	PRR, Juniata	5063	1915	2-8-0
Pennsylvania Railroad	1670	B6sb	PRR, Juniata	3042	1916	0-6-0
Pennsylvania Railroad	6755	M1b	PRR, Altoona	4225	1930	4-8-2
Pennsylvania Railroad	3936 & 3937	DD1	PRR, Altoona		1911	2-B+B-2
Pennsylvania Railroad	4800	GG1	General Electric	11848	1934	2-C+C-2
Pennsylvania Railroad	4935	GG1	PRR, Altoona	4434	1943	2-C+C-2
Pennsylvania Railroad	4465	E44	General Electric		1963	C-C
Pennsylvania Railroad	5690	B1	PRR		1934	C
Pennsylvania Railroad	5901	PRR EP20 (EMD E7)	Electro-Motive Division		1945	A1A-A1A
Pennsylvania Railroad	7006	EMD GP9	Electro-Motive Division		1955	B-B
Pennsylvania Railroad	860	Budd Metroliner	Budd Company		1968	B-B
Pennsylvania Railroad	John Stevens (replica)		PRR, Altoona		1939	2-1-2
Amtrak	603	E60MA	General Electric		1976	C-C
Baldwin Locomotive Works	1200	S-12	Baldwin Locomotive Works		1951	B-B
Bethlehem Steel	111	Fireless	Heisler		1941	0-4-0F
Camden and Amboy Railroad	John Bull (replica)		PRR, Altoona		1940	2-4-0
Chicago Mill & Lumber Company	4	Heisler	Heisler	1375	1918	B-B
Conrail	2233	EMD GP30	Electro-Motive Division		1963	B-B
Leetonia Railway	1	Class C Shay	Lima Locomotive Works	1799	1906	B-B-B
Lone Star Cement Company		5-ton	Brookville		1951
Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad	81	EMD NW2	Electro-Motive Division		1946	B-B
W. H. Mason Co.	4	Class B Climax	Climax		1913	B-B
Monongahela Connecting Railroad	701	C415	Alco		1968	B-B
Pennsylvania Power & Light	D	Fireless	Heisler		1940	0-8-0F
Pennsylvania Power & Light		18-ton	Plymouth		1949
Reading Company	1251	B4-a	Reading Company Shops	2306	1918	0-6-0ST
Virginia and Truckee Railroad	20 Tahoe		Baldwin Locomotive Works	3687	1875	2-6-0
Vulcan Iron Works	1		Vulcan Iron Works		1930
Amtrak	915	EMD AEM-7	Electro-Motive Division		1980	B-B