Strasburg Railroad

Okay, so I lied.

On day two of our trip to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, we visited both the Strasburg Railroad and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. I said I was going to include both in my post today, but I just have too many pictures and not enough self-control to pick only a few.

So, today will be the Strasburg Railroad only.

The Strasburg Railroad was founded in 1832 for passenger and freight transportation but it's main purpose soon became as a freight interchange with the Pennsylvania Railroad. By the mid-1950's it's usefulness was coming to an end and in 1957 track destruction caused by a series of storms brought the railroad to a halt.

With the owners unwilling to invest in repair of the tracks, it looked as though the Strasburg Railroad was going to slip quietly into a place in history. While petitions for abandoment were being considered, two fans of the railroad, Henry Long and Donald Hallock formed a group to try and save it.

After repairing the four mile track, the owners of the railroad began acquiring locomotives and passenger cars from all across North America. The railroad was opened to visitors in 1958 as a tourist railroad and has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Lancaster. (www.strasburgrailroad.com/about-the-railroad)

Upon arrival at the station, we were not disappointed. We encountered the engine just hooking up to the passenger cars and getting ready for it's first trip out of the day. It was like stepping back in time to the steam engine era and I felt all that was missing was my parasol and steamer trunk.

The kids were delighted! We soon learned that instead of the usual, " Choo Chooooooo, chugga chugga chugga" that most kids say, Zoë says, "Choo Choooooo traintraintraintrain- traintraintraintrain." This never got old, throughout the entire trip.

One can buy the standard coach car tickets for $14 for adults & children 12 and up, $7 for children 3-11 and children under 3 are free. A ride in the first class parlour car will cost you $20 per person regardless of age. You can also choose to ride in the restored dining car with lunch served to you for $16 and $9 for adults and children 12 and over and children 3-11 respectively and $2 for children under 3 plus the cost of your meal.

We chose to ride in the open air cars with a beautiful panoramic view unobstructed by windows for my picture-taking needs. This upgrade also cost $16, $9 and $2 for twelve and over, 3-11 years and under 3 respectively.

We got on the first train of the day and although not vacant, it was not crowded at all either. There was plenty of room to choose your seats. I did notice as we pulled back into the station after our ride that there were considerably more people waiting to take the next train. We purchased our tickets there at the station with ease, but I am told weekends are very crowded and it is recommended you purchase your tickets in advance.

One last thing- several times a year, Strasburg Railroad hosts Thomas the Tank Engine- a life-size engine painted to look like Thomas to comes to pull their train. This is a very popular event and advanced ticket purchase is highly recommended if not necessary.

Now for the rest of the photos:

The inside of the open-air car. You can look through the doors two cars up and see the nose of the engine.

An old engine we passed on the way out of the station:

Our conductor taking tickets:

Amish farms:I used my zoom lens for a closer look at the the Amish farm:

Amish farmhouse:


More Amish farms:

Our engine unhooked from the train and then went around us to hook up to the other end and pull us back to the station:
He's almost there and then he can switch tracks and hook up:
All hooked up and ready to go back:
Amish farming caught on film:Building a barn:

The inside of the coach car- I can stare at this picture all day- BEAUTIFUL!
Our engine:
While taking pictures of Zoë, I caught a Mennonite family in the background boarding our train:
Another picture of the Mennonite family in the background:Details of our engine:

Dutch Wonderland- Lancaster County (Vacation Part 1)

Finally, I am going to tell you about my vacation and mini vacation. There are loads of pictures, so I am going to spread them out over several different posts.

While in Lancaster County, we spent one day at the amusement park Dutch Wonderland. It is an amusement park specifically for small children and my family had a blast. Even in summer months, the weekdays are relatively crowd-free making it for an awesome day filled with riding almost everything in the park (save a few we didn't want to ride) seeing the diving show twice and Noah riding the roller coaster over and over again.

In the middle of the day, the park became a little more crowded, but that only amounted to us having to stand in line for the log ride for fifteen minutes. Seriously. Fifteen minutes was the longest we had to wait to ride anything.

Now, the pictures aren't great, because there was no way I was taking my Canon to the park. There is a small water park encased in the bigger park and I didn't want to ruin my camera. Little did I know that we would only spend twenty minutes in the water park because upon entering, BOTH of my kids freaked out and cried until we left! Nevertheless, I didn't bring my camera and therefore these pictures were taken with the camera on my husband's cell phone.

First:

And because I couldn't resist: ( I had them switch) Where the two diving shows took place. I don't know why he didn't get a picture of the actual show. One was A Dragon's Tale and the other was The Frog Prince.

The park mascots are a dragon, a prince and princess that walk around for pictures. I don't remember the dragon's name, but Zoë didn't like him.
The little monorail:
The view of the entrance to the park from the monorail:
Zoë riding the pandas:
Noah and I on the little roller coaster. We are in the third car, you can't really see us very well. Noah later fell in love with the big roller coaster and his daddy rode it with him over and over. Since Zoe was too small for that ride, she and I rode the park train numerous times.

Views from the skyride:

Zoë on the skyride:

Riding the little boats:
There boat ride took us under that waterfall (it doesn't get you wet) and there is a big nest under there with a supposed dragon egg in it. Ha!
This had nothing to do with Dutch Wonderland, but we saw it on our travels and it made me giggle every time we passed it. So, of course, I made my husband pull over so I could get a picture. It is located in Paradise, Pennsylvania... which the realization of progressed my giggles to full-on guffaws:

As I mentioned, the park was really a great day for us. The weather was perfect- in the low 80's with low humidity and a breeze. The park isn't very big which is perfect for small children and the rides are all geared toward younger kids. I highly recommend it if you are in the area with your young children.

Tomorrow: Strasburg Railroad and Museum