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Special Song Marks Railroad Anniversary

Tuesday, June 5th, 2007

Special song to mark RR anniversary
By Cindy Hummel
Lancaster New Era
June 5, 2007

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa - Bill Grager has been working as a conductor on the Strasburg Rail Road for a third of a century.

Grager, now an assistant principal of Lampeter-Strasburg High School, also served as music conductor at the district’s Martin Meylin Middle School for more than 20 years.

In 1986, his dual conducting skills played a role in the development of a song, “The Strasburg Railroad,” by a New York composer who rode the rails.

“It seemed like a natural fit,” Grager explains, “being a conductor there (the railroad) and here (the school district.)”

The song can be heard live during the Strasburg Rail Road’s 175th anniversary celebration, which begins at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the railroad, along Route 741 east of Strasburg. Hans Herr Elementary School’s fourth-grade band will perform the piece.

Although Gov. Ed Rendell had been slated to read a proclamation at the event, a high-raking official from his office will now take his place, explains Hope Banner, Strasburg Rail Road spokeswoman.

Grager recalls that the song was born from New York composer Joe Ambrosio’s memories of a ride on the railroad during a vacation here. Upon returning home, Ambrosio contacted the late Ellis Bachman, then the railroad’s stationmaster and vice president of administration.

Bachman provided information on the narrative told to riders and served as a contact between Ambrosio and Grager as the song was written. The song’s world premier took place at Martin Meylin Middle School on May 5, 1987.

Students begin the song by making a sound to represent a steam whistle, Grager explains. Then brass players open up a valve for condensation and blow through their instruments.

The conductor, to be played on June 6 by Hans Herr Principal Andrew Godfrey, calls “all aboard,” and welcomes visitors to the Strasburg Rail Road.

Ambrosio’s arrangement replicates the sound of the train starting slowly and gaining speed. The conductor announces a Cherry Hill stop as the tempo slows down. The brass section again replicates steam.

Students recreate a whistle sound on their instruments as the conductor relates the story of another line called, “The Little Old and Slow (Lancaster­Oxford & Southern), which once passed just over the hill from the train’s next stop. A ghost train from that line, the conductor explains, can still be heard today.

Again students make a whistle sound on their instruments. Three muted horns respond with the sound of the ghost train. The music continues to replicate a steam train until it reaches the end of the line in Paradise.

Hans Herr fourth-grade band teacher Robert Shaubach explains his students had been learning the song before plans for the celebration began.

“I do not teach it every year,” Shaubach says, “but I do have the beginners perform it from time to time.”

The song has become a staple of Shaubach’s music library. The song matches beginning students’ abilities, he explains, and the kids enjoy playing it because of the local interest and special effects.

“Third, and of least importance by far,” Shaubach says, “I’m a huge railroad fan - both full size and model. So it is a good fit for the kids, and I enjoy it as well.”

To read the entire article, please visit Lancaster Online.

Posted in News Articles, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Railfans

Businesses Tap Into Marketing Possibilities of Wikipedia

Friday, May 25th, 2007

Businesses tap into marketing possibilities of Wikipedia
By Bill Simpson
Central Penn Business Journal
May 25, 2007

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that allows anyone to create an article or to edit an existing one, provides worldwide visibility for businesses, people, places and events. Boasting 1.78 million articles written in English, Wikipedia is an astoundingly large source of information.

According to Alexa’s top 500 Web sites, Wikipedia is the eighth most-visited site (Yahoo! is No. 1), and it offers marketing opportunities for businesses. That doesn’t mean that a business can post an advertisement. By definition, Wikipedia articles must be “just the facts,” so businesses have strict limitations on how they can write about themselves.

Writers’ guidelines for Wikipedia include this requirement: All Wikipedia articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view, representing fairly and without bias all significant views that have been published by reliable sources.

That guideline effectively prohibits traditional advertising copy. While a business might post an article that portrays the business in glowing terms, the article probably wouldn’t last long because anyone can edit a Wikipedia article, and because administrators have the ability to remove articles that fail to meet the guidelines.

A look at the Wikipedia entry for the “Strasburg Railroad” might lead a reader to believe that the entry is the creation of an advertising agency or of an employee of the railroad. The listing has extensive information about the railroad, color pictures and a link to the railroad’s official Web site. But the site actually contains all information and no marketing for the railroad.

Katie Stafford is public-relations coordinator for Scheffey Integrated Marketing in Lancaster, the agency that handles advertising and other marketing efforts for the railroad. Scheffey did not create the railroad’s Wikipedia entry, Stafford said.

“Some rail fans built that site,” she said. “Rail fans are so supportive.”

According to Wikipedia, a rail fan or rail buff is an amateur who is strongly interested in railroads. Excessively enthusiastic rail fans are sometimes referred to pejoratively as “foamers,” especially by American rail workers, in reference to the joking notion that they foam at the mouth in their excitement over train operations.

….

To read the entire article, please visit Central Penn Business Journal.

Posted in News Articles, Railfans

Strasburg Rail Road Celebrates 175 Years

Thursday, May 17th, 2007

Whistle Stop To Mark Strasburg RR Birthday
By Cindy Hummel
Lancaster New Era
May 17, 2007

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - The Strasburg Rail Road will go back in time to celebrate its 175th birthday on June 6, and Gov. Ed Rendell is scheduled to play a role in the celebration.

Rail Road President and Chief Mechanical Officer Linn Moedinger said the event will include a re-creation of a whistle stop campaign of bygone days beginning at 11 a.m. at the rail road, along Route 741, east of Strasburg.

The governor has the event on his calendar, said railroad spokesman Hope Banner. Barring any kind of official state business, Rendell will take part in the event by reading a proclamation commemorating the charter of the railroad.

In the event Rendell cannot be there himself, Banner said the railroad will ask one of the other invited state representatives to do the honors.

When asked about the most significant achievements in the past 175 years, Moedinger said the railroad was one of the first to quit using steam in 1926. In that year, the Strasburg Rail Road purchased “gasoline-mechanical locomotive No. 1,” which it still owns.

Coincidentally, while the railroad was among the first to give up steam, it was also among the earliest to bring it back.

“We were one of the first, if not the first railroad to bring a steam locomotive back into service under ICC rules in 1960,” Moedinger says.

Visitors arriving at the railroad for the celebration will be greeted by music performed by the fourth-grade band of Lampeter-Strasburg School District’s Hans Herr Elementary School.

Rendell and Moedinger will board the parlor car down the tracks, so they can arrive in the style of an old-time whistle stop tour. They will both speak from the platform, decorated for the era of steam engines.

“This (whistle stop event) was a very common venue for celebratory and political speech making in the days when the passenger train was the primary mode of travel,” Moedinger said.

Next, the Hans Herr students will play a brief concert, under the direction of their teacher, Robert Shaubach. The repertoire will include the Strasburg Rail Road song, written by New York composer Joe Ambrosio in 1986. Hans Herr principal Andrew Godfrey will play the role of the railroad conductor/narrator for the song

The railroad was incorporated by a special Act of the Pennsylvania Legislature while Andrew Jackson was president. The railroad started as a connection between the Philadelphia and Columbia railroads.

To read the entire article, please visit Lancaster Online.

Posted in News Articles, Railfans

All Steamed Up!

Friday, May 11th, 2007

Shop keeps railroad’s equipment moving, generates income
By Bill Simpson
Central Penn Business Journal
May 11, 2007

“Come on guys. I hear the train.”

A young boy shrieks with delight as he hears the distinctive whistle of a train in eastern Lancaster County. Kids of all ages move closer to the tracks. A hulking steam locomotive pulls half a dozen passenger cars into the station in Strasburg. Cameras click. Excitement builds. The train pulls to a stop, and new passengers wait impatiently for riders who have just completed their journey to Paradise to disembark.

This scene is the visible face of the Strasburg Railroad. It plays out many times a day throughout most months of the year, but it could never happen without the efforts of the men and women who work behind the scenes to keep the trains running.

Steam locomotives are remnants of an earlier railroading era, and for modern freight and passenger operations, they’re obsolete. Compared with diesel engines, steam locomotives are highly inefficient. They use large quantities of water and fuel and need significant maintenance.

Despite those drawbacks, steam locomotives have a nostalgic appeal that diesels can’t match, and the appeal of steam is a vital part of the experience at Strasburg.

So, to keep the locomotives belching steam and to keep the passenger cars moving smoothly, mechanics, carpenters, machinists and electricians work diligently to keep the railroad’s rolling stock in top operating condition. Many of the engines and passenger cars are 100 years old or more, so they require regular maintenance.

Keeping the railroad’s equipment in working order is the primary responsibility of the railroad’s mechanical department, but that department is also a source of income. Other railroads send their equipment to Strasburg for maintenance and repair, and the shops at Strasburg have a reputation for excellent work.

Robert Yuill, owner of Historic Machinery Services in Springville, Ala., often uses the railroad’s services to complement his own capabilities. “I think they’re the best,” he said “They do some spectacular things.”

In his work, Yuill repairs many types of old machinery, ranging from steam locomotives to boilers to factory equipment. He calls on Strasburg to fabricate machine parts. “I’ve been using them for 20 years. I know they’ll do it right,” he said.

Steve Lee manages operating practices and is a locomotive engineer with Union Pacific Railroad.

Union Pacific is the nation’s largest railroad, with 8,400 locomotives, 106,000 freight cars and 32,000 miles of track in 23 states from Illinois to California. The rail line operates two steam locomotives as part of its heritage program, and the wheels of both recently visited Strasburg for maintenance and new parts. Strasburg can do work that Union Pacific can’t handle.

“The Strasburg has machine shop capabilities that UP no longer has, and has not had for many years,” Lee said. “We could probably obtain the capability, but we can’t justify an investment in machinery that will be utilized only once every 10 or 12 years. While the Strasburg might be a small railroad, it has capabilities far beyond most existing shops. … The quality of Strasburg’s work is beyond reproach.”

For Linn Moedinger, president of Strasburg Railroad, work done for Union Pacific and other railroads represents a nice source of business, which he placed at 5 percent of the railroad’s total revenues. He stressed that generating income from outside sources is not the primary purpose of Strasburg’s mechanical shops.

“Our mission is the train ride,” he said. “Our own equipment is our No. 1 priority. We have 100-year-old cars in regular service, so we have to be realistic. We can’t market our services too aggressively. Our own equipment may need special attention at any time.”

Safety is a major concern for every steam locomotive, and Strasburg Railroad operates on a strict maintenance schedule for all its locomotives.

The railroad is the busiest tourist line in the continental U.S. It carried 428,000 passengers last year. Many of them were parents and their children who came to enjoy rides behind Thomas The Tank Engine.

Strasburg bought rights to Thomas in 1998. “He” will make three appearances in Strasburg this year. Strasburg Railroad also does maintenance work on the Thomas engines and builds new ones as demand for his appearances increases.

A visitor to Strasburg Railroad’s shops can see equipment that’s a mix of the old and the modern. Some pieces are almost a century old. One piece of equipment that tests air brakes dates back to the 1920s.

Other equipment is new. Doing work for other railroads allows Strasburg Railroad to purchase equipment that it might not be able to afford otherwise, Moedinger said.

Scott Lefever, Thomas events coordinator for the railroad, said one challenge for the shops is to find qualified workers. Vo-tech schools don’t teach steam-locomotive maintenance, so most training takes place on the job. “We look for mechanical aptitude,” Lefever said.

The work is challenging and rewarding, but it doesn’t provide instant gratification. The complete restoration of a passenger car can take as many as 13,000 man hours, and the work can be expensive. The recent restoration of a passenger car called The Warren Benner, for example, cost $635,000. The intent was to bring the car back to its original condition — an expensive proposition. Hardwood mahogany, for example, cost $1,600 per piece.

The work can be expensive, but it seems to create a respect for the equipment among riders. “I’ve never seen anyone carve a name on one of our trains,” Lefever said.

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IF YOU GO

Shop tours are available to the public every day at noon. The tours take place over employees’ lunch hour and last 45 minutes.

To read the entire article, please visit Central Penn Business Journal.

Posted in News Articles, Mechanical Shops, Railfans

The ‘Little, Old and Slow’ is back in town

Saturday, April 28th, 2007

Railroad’s History Out of Print for 22 Years
By Larry Alexander
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal
Apr 28, 2007

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - To the farmers of southern Lancaster County who depended on it, the Peach Bottom and Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railroad was lovingly dubbed the “Little, Old and Slow.”

But during the 50-plus years it chugged between Peach Bottom, Quarryville and Oxford in Chester County, it was a vital link in getting farm produce from the local fields to the markets in Philadelphia and Baltimore.

The history of this railway, the first narrow-gauge line in Pennsylvania, is recounted in “Little, Old and Slow” by the late Benjamin F. G. Kline Jr., now back in print after 22 years.

The book, reprinted by the Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, includes an eight-page addendum of new material and photos uncovered by historians William Cole, Joseph Hueber and Stanley White.

The addendum includes original drawings by White of Dorsey Station at Peach Bottom, which still exists.

Deb Reddig, marketing director for the Railroad Museum, said Kline, who died in 1987, had been the acting curator at the museum and had written a number of books. Few, though, sold more than “Little, Old and Slow.”

“This one was hugely popular at the time,” Reddig said. “The Friends of the Railroad Museum have gotten a lot of requests over the years to bring it back. We were very fortunate to have Mr. White, Mr. Cole and Mr. Hueber add to this volume.”

Reddig said the book, which costs $15, is available in the museum’s store and that “we are trying to get it in at other historical societies and museum stores.”

The Little, Old and Slow, or “Peachy” as it also was known, was originally formed as the Peach Bottom Railway in 1868 by a group of investors. It went into operation in 1873 and ran between Peach Bottom and Oxford — a distance of about 20 miles. A connection to Quarryville was added around 1915.

White, an author and historian who lives in Drumore, said the investors had envisioned a standard-sized railroad, but a shortfall in funding forced them to build a narrow gauge line.

With the rails just 3 feet apart instead of the standard 4 feet, 8½ inches, everything was miniaturized. Locomotives, cars and even bridges were smaller and, subsequently, more affordable.

The petite size of the rolling stock was both a blessing and a curse.

“It was small enough that if it jumped the track, you could literally get a group of guys together and lift it back on the rails,” White said. “But if a big gust of wind came along, there was a serious danger that the car you were in might get blown over.”

He related a tale by one man who spoke of a car he was in being blown off the track six times.

“I imagine that got a little tiresome after a while,” White said.

Originally, the rail line was seen as a connection between Philadelphia and the coal fields at East Broadtop near Orbisonia in Huntingdon County.

In the end, money talked, and the line, which connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad at both Oxford and Peach Bottom, was strictly a means for local farmers to ship their goods.

“It was intended to be one of the big players one day, but all those plans fell apart, so they ended up building a railroad that was never connected across the river by anything other than a little steam ferry,” White said.

The Little, Old and Slow also carried passengers, some of whom actually flagged it down between stations.

“In its heyday, it probably made six trips a day between the three stops,” White said. “But for most of its life, it did about half that.”

White said the Little, Old and Slow was “was very much a peoples’ railroad,” and was so well-loved that, after the last of its several bankruptcies, the locals bought it back.

The rail line operated until 1919, put out of business by the advent of trucks. The line was dismantled and its equipment sold for scrap.

Today, only one car — a gasoline-powered passenger car that can be driven from either end — exists. It is in possession of the Strasburg Railroad.

To view the entire article, please visit LancasterOnline.

Posted in News Articles, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Mechanical Shops, Railfans

Celebrating 175 Years of Steam

Thursday, April 26th, 2007

175 Years and Still Making an Impact
Media Release
Strasburg Rail Road


Strasburg, Pa. – March 1, 2007 – 175 years ago, the town of Strasburg flourished as a key location between Lancaster and Philadelphia. Progress brought new roads and a rail line – all with a direct connection to the bigger city. But as transportation advancements came, so did fear that Strasburg would lose its commercial edge. It was from this concern, and later, a few creative entrepreneurs, that one of Lancaster County’s most prized possessions – Strasburg Rail Road - came to be.

Born in 1832, Strasburg Rail Road evolved into a bustling tourist attraction nearly 50 years ago. Through the years, it has even been the site of Abraham Lincoln’s Presidential visit, Hollywood movies, and a destination for millions who travel to Pennsylvania Dutch Country’s Amish land. Today, Strasburg Rail Road owns the claim of being America’s oldest short-line railroad.

With each passing year, Strasburg Rail Road’s reputation has grown. And now, hundreds of thousands of families, railfans and group-tour travelers head to Strasburg each year, just to ride aboard the mighty steam train. And, for the first time, the railroad’s Web site welcomed nearly 1-million visitors in 2006.

While Strasburg Rail Road has long owned the rights as a great family attraction, the railroad’s newest excursion has redefined relaxing on the rails. Couples looking to soak up the scenery and savor a quiet moment can now ride in style aboard he Wine & Cheese Train. Traveling in first-class accommodations, riders are served complimentary wine, cheese, crackers and fruit.

Strasburg Rail Road is also the only place you can enjoy Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine while traveling past more than 20 working farms. Need more? Let the sound of music and thrill of live performance entertain you. The Traditional Dinner & Live Entertainment Train serves a home-cooked meal while you wind through the countryside on a music-filled train. Looking to be a part of the entertainment? Try the Murder Mystery Dinner. The Strasburg Rail Road Dining Car and Act 1 Productions are teaming up to bring you the story of “The Goober Family and the Silver Mine.” Audience members are encouraged to help solve the mystery while enjoying gourmet food.

Feeling full? Not a problem. The station is full of things to do and see. Provide the power for the miniature pump car or watch the little ones “steer” the pint-sized cranky cars around the track. Plus, don’t miss the cutest train to chug the tracks. Strasburg Rail Road is among just a few places where an authentic miniature steam train is still in operation. Built for an amusement park around 1920, the Cagney is the perfect ending, or beginning, to your totally train day.

If you’d like to learn more about the history of the railroad, take a self-guided tour of the luxurious President’s Car. This mansion on wheels once served tycoons and dignitaries. Take the Mechanical Shop Tour where you get a behind-the-scenes guided tour through the mechanical shop where trains from across the nation are actually built and refurbished, including Thomas the Tank Engine™. Another favorite is the switch tower tour, which offers a bird’s eye view of our magnificent countryside and approaching trains. Built in 1855, this is a classic example of Pennsylvania Railroad signal tower design.

Special Events Details:
Wine & Cheese Train
April through November
Travel in first-class accommodations onboard the Parlor Car as you are served complimentary wine, cheese and crackers. Beer, mixed drinks, premium wine, non-alcoholic hot and cold beverages are also available for purchase.

Easter Bunny Train
April 6, 7 & 8
Celebrate Easter weekend with Peter Cottontail, at Strasburg Rail Road, singing songs and playing games. Enjoy a relaxing ride through Pennsylvania Dutch County as you travel aboard a vintage steam train.

Day Out with Thomas™
June 16 – 24, September 15 - 23, November 30, December 1 & 2
Join Thomas the Tank Engine™, a full-sized operating steam locomotive, as he greets friends of all ages. Ride a train pulled by Thomas and meet Sir Topham Hatt™. You’ll find lots of other exciting activities and a complete selection of Thomas & Friends™ merchandise in our gift shop. Order tickets by visiting www.StrasburgRailRoad.com, or by calling 1-866-468-7630.

Trains & Troops Weekend
November 3 - 4
Pay tribute to our soldiers at Strasburg Rail Road. Ride a special train with re-enactors from all eras of our military in conjunction with the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania’s Veterans Day celebration.

Santa’s Paradise Express
December 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16
Celebrate the magic of Christmas at Strasburg Rail Road. Travel down the tracks with Jolly Old Saint Nick aboard passenger cars warmed by potbelly stoves. Take a picture with Santa, sing Christmas carols as musicians stroll from car to car.

To learn more about the history of Strasburg Rail Road, please visit StrasburgRailRoad.com.

Posted in Media Releases, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Railfans

TrainWeb.com Visits Strasburg Rail Road

Sunday, April 22nd, 2007

Strasburg Rail Road
By Chris Guenzler
Trainweb.com
April 22, 2007

I pulled into the Strasburg Railroad parking lot at 8:30 AM and learned that their first train I would be riding would leave at 11 AM. With it very cold and windy I decided to have a look around. I quickly saw smoke that led me to Thomas the Tank Engine 0-6-0 #1. […]

With it really cold and windy I decided it was now time to visit the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum across the street. […]

At 10:35 AM I finished up at the museum and recrossed the highway to the Strasburg Railroad. I bought my ticket and went to the Strasburg Railroad offices to look for Katie Stafford who would be my host for today’s trip. […]

To read the entire article, please visit TrainWeb.com.

Posted in News Articles, Railfans

Behind-The-Scenes At Strasburg Rail Road

Thursday, March 29th, 2007

The Noon Shop Tour
Media Release
Strasburg Rail Road

Lancaster County, Pa. - (February 2007) - A little known attraction in Pennsylvania Dutch Country is the behind-the-scenes tour of Strasburg Rail Road’s Mechanical Shop. Few people realize Strasburg Rail Road is an actual real, working railroad that still hauls freight today. Not only does Strasburg Rail Road build and repair the passenger cars and engines used at the railroad, but the mechanical department also has been producing world-class work in the steam railroading industry for more than 40 years.

In fact, the Strasburg Rail Road is one of only three shops in the country to hold what is known in the industry as an “S” stamp. That means the Strasburg Rail Road can build a pressure vessel from the ground up. All other shops have an “R” stamp, qualifying them only to do repairs. Most of the work done inside the Mechanical Shop is still done by hand – a skill dating back to the 1960s.

This year marks the fifth year the mechanical shop tour has been offered to the public. Each day the railroad is open, the Mechanical Shop closes down from noon to 1:00 p.m. while the workers take a break for lunch. During this time, the shop workers at Strasburg Rail Road take turns leading the daily tour of the mechanical shops, making each tour a unique experience for guests.

During a visit to Strasburg Rail Road, guests can view and ride aboard a rolling stock of six vintage steam locomotives and more than 15 passenger cars from the 1915 era of railroading. Engine #31 celebrates her 100th birthday next year; and last year, engine #475 celebrated her 100th birthday. Both engines are still going strong.

Starting in the Engine House, guests can see where water is tested and locomotives are hostled and stored. Guests learn about the various locomotives that pull the passenger cars and how they are cared for to ensure safety. From the 100-year old #475 with a 4-8-0 wheel formation, to a replica of the storybook character, Thomas the Tank Engine™, guests can always expect to see some steam in the Engine House.

From the Engine House, step outside to see the fireman shoveling a half-a-ton of coal into the engine’s firebox. The heat climbs to an astounding 2,500 degrees to transform the water into steam. The resulting energy, along with the engineer’s coaxing of the locomotive’s controls, turns the engines wheels to charge the 185-ton iron horse down the steel rails.

The next stop on the tour is the passenger car restoration shop. Guests can expect to smell the fresh scent of paint and stained wood. Here, passenger cars are restored to their natural splendor. The process of restoring passenger cars includes extensive research to learn exactly how the car would have looked in its original state. Workers try to restore and use as much of the original car as possible, but there are times when replications must be made. Wooden chairs are even whittled, by hand, to recreate the look of circa 1915. Passenger cars can take up to 13,000 man-hours to restore.

Just through the swinging doors, guests can see where locomotives are built and restored. For more than 40 years, the mechanical department has been producing world-class work in the steam railroading industry, with more than 250 years of combined experience in design, repair and construction of heritage and historical railroad equipment. Strasburg Rail Road repairs, reproduces and restores equipment to a museum-quality original state. In the mechanical shop, you will see both vintage and modern-day equipment, which was all acquired with one thing in mind: to keep the history of steam railroading alive.

To learn more about the Mechanical Shops Tour, please visit StrasburgRailRoad.

Posted in Media Releases, Mechanical Shops, Railfans

Strasburg Rail Road Embraces Past, Stays on Track for Future

Thursday, March 22nd, 2007

Strasburg Rail Road Embraces Past, Stays on Track for Future
By Cindy Hummel
Lancaster New Era
March 22, 2007

STRASBURG, Pa. - The Strasburg Rail Road isn’t huffing and puffing slowly into its 175th birthday.

It’s chugging along at top speed with a host of changes in store designed to improve the terminal operation, while at the same time giving it more of a 1920s-era feel.

In addition to an anniversary celebration in June, the railroad also has embarked on a long-range plan that includes creating an early 1900s street scene and adding turntables on either end of the line.

The milestone celebration, set for Wednesday, June 6, will most likely include a governor’s proclamation, but officials won’t know until two weeks before the event whether Gov. Ed Rendell will actually make an appearance, said railroad president Linn Moedinger.

As for the long-range plan, the railroad has already begun work to create a 1920s street scene — a small-town station environment where visitors can stay around awhile, stopping in a general store and a hobby shop before getting a milkshake.

“We are going along with long range plans to improve the property in East Strasburg,” Moedinger said, “making a much better terminal.”

The project includes replacing some existing buildings with structures resembling those from the early 1900s. The plan also calls for placing the turntables at both ends of the line.

As the railroad goes through the approval processes for the long-range plan, smaller changes have already occurred.

The railroad has been replacing its green John Deere tractors with Model T Fords, Moedinger said. The older vehicles with tiny pickup beds can now accomplish more jobs around the station. Surveying work also has begun, he said.

Strasburg businessmen opened the railroad in 1832 after the Pennsylvania Railroad bypassed the town, according to Kurt Bell, archivist for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, who recently shared the beginnings of the railroad with the Strasburg Heritage Society.

The businessmen felt connecting Strasburg by rail with a station at Leaman Place would prevent the “economic death” experienced by other communities bypassed by the railroad.

On Feb. 22, 1861, Abraham Lincoln made a stop at the Leaman Place station on his inaugural train ride, en route to Lancaster. His four-minute visit drew nearly 5,000 people to catch a glimpse of the president and his wife, according to Kim Carlo of the Strasburg Rail Road.

After World War II, the railroad faced closing as other forms of transportation became more prominent. In 1958, another group of interested individuals joined forces to save the Strasburg Rail Road in what would be the rail road’s first rebirth. The 50th anniversary of that rebirth will be celebrated in November 2008.

“It is kind of interesting to have our 175th this year,” Moedinger said, “and our 50th next year.”

In 1986, New York composer Joe Ambrosio wrote a song about the Strasburg Rail Road that the fourth-grade band at nearby Hans Herr Elementary is currently learning to play, according to their band teacher Robert Shaubach.

The popularity of the Strasburg Rail Road has been like a pendulum, Moedinger said, with the most recent peak of ridership in the 1990s. The nostalgia factor is being lost as fewer people remember the steam whistle when it was still commonly in use.

At the same time, Moedinger has noticed an increasing number of younger people riding Amtrak and becoming interested in trains. The Thomas the Tank Engine phenomenon also brings children and their parents to the East Strasburg station.

The rail road’s long-term plans are aimed at being ready for the next peak of popularity when it arrives.

“On our 175th birthday,” Moedinger said, “It is kind a second rebirth.”

Read more at Lancaster Online.

Posted in News Articles, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Railfans

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