We discovered the place through a friend. My 4-n-half yr son loves trains and we wanted to take him on a coal-burning steam engine train just like in his story books.
We took the train ride on a mid day - Sunday. The weather was nice. The place is about an hour n half ride from Philly. There is a train every
one hour starting 10 AM in the morning till 7 PM. So you can be sure you won't miss the train here :-)
There is ample of parking space once you make the turn into the station. My first impression about the Station was - "Wow!!" It almost feels like a small town. Very neat and maintained well. There is ice cream, a small cafe, gift shop and some fun things to do while waiting for the train. Tickets are reasonably priced. They accept credit cards too. We chose a "Open Car" since it was warm , sunny & breezy that day.
We were there a little early and had lot of time for our train after we purchased the tickets.Right across the road is
Strasburg Rail Road Railroad Museum of PA. Anoth
er must-see place!! The entry ticket is $10. The place has huge engines and trains from old times. Nah...am not talking about miniatures/exhibits .. am talking about the real deal!! Huge trains and Engines of all kinds. If you are a train Lover .. you should visit this. The place is well-maintained. A Great Place to learn lot about trains - dining cars, freezer cars, sleeping cars etc. A walk through the History!!
The Museum also has a small Play area for kids with lot of toy trains...the kids can operate with a remote control. We spent a lot of time there.
Soon it was time for us to go on the Ch00-Choo train .. we were waiting for. We purchased ice-cream and popcorn before we went on
board. The train started with a whistle and the ride was amid Amish farms and houses. The ride is about 30 minutes and the train also stops at a picnic place for anybody who wants to get down and resumes its journey. This picnic place has wooden tables and chairs...but there is no food available. You have to get your own food. Since there is a train every other hour, you can always board a train thats going back towards the station.
Although the ride seems short, the Picturesque of the farms and houses on the either side make it a pleasant experience. There is a Guide on the train who talks about the various things to look out for...including a "Ghost train" :-)
You can spot Amish villagers in their horse carts every now and then .. all around the station. Wave your hand and they wave back :-)
If you happen to forget a camera, there is a photographer on board.. who can take one for the whole family. In spite of having a camera, we had our picture taken. (One small suggestion - Please choose wallet size picture if you happen to take a picture with the photographer. The picture on the computer looked good .. but the quality was bad when the final thing came out. so watch out!! )
Overall a day well spent. A little something for everyone.
You can get more info here :
Muesum - http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/
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