8 Hours of steam at Strasburg PA

[E.M. Bell]

This is part 3 of our roadtrip a couple of weeks ago to the Northeast.

When  Gage and myself made plans to go up to PA for a few days, I made a point to work a full day at the Strasburg RR into the plans. It has been close to 20 years since I had visited the area, and I had a hankering to get back. My goal was to shoot the N&W 475, and even though I had called ahead to see if it would be running the day we planned on being there, she was not in service. Even with that little bit of disappointment I still got to see the 475 for the first time in person, and we had a great time shooting #90 through out the day.

We spent about 10 hours or so in the area, with the majority of that at the Strasburg (with a few side trips to shoot Amtrak throughout the day) and came away with some good stuff. If you want to visit a professional, well run tourist RR, this is the place! I do not normally go to such places (with a few exceptions like TVRM) but I will be back again...hopefully when the 475 is running!

Here are a few samples of what we shot. You can find the whole set over on Pbase at this link >>>> http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/strasburg14

07/24/14 Strasburg, Pa

Strasburg #90 runs around her train at the depot.


N&W 475 gets some attention outside the shop as #90 leaves town with the afternoon train


N&W 475 outside the Strasburg Shop


"Made in America" Is there anything that looks more American than a steam powered passenger train rolling through bountiful fields of tobacco and corn?? Strasburg #90 and her train of Nine wooden coaches look right at home on this warm July afternoon.


The Strasburg local makes a station stop at Groff's Grove Pa. There is just something about a steam locomotive and jointed rail that begs for a shot with the big glass....and B&W!!


"Smoke Signals to Heaven" Every once in a while, someone likes to tell me I need to do more "urban" shooting, you know...in the city with the traffic and noise and wall to wall rude people.. What you see here is more my style...wide open spaces under a big sky with a steam locomotive sending smoke and cinders high... I have never seen heaven, but I cant imagine it looking much different than this!


"Timeless Fascination" A young Amish boy peers over the crossing arm at Carpenters Crossing, intently watching Strasburg #90 as it steamed back towards town. Soon enough, the distraction was gone and that young feller and his bucket of blackberries went on his way down the road on his scooter.

[dschlegel]

I am glad the weather was great for your visit. This summer in PA has been relatively cool, with not too much humidity and haze.

The shot with the Amish boy (Bu in PA Dutch, boys would be Boova) is fantastic!

The Amish and Mennonites here in PA seem to have a fascination with railroads. There's a Mennonite farmer named Jim Weaver a mile west of my town of Topton who is probably in his mid 60's who can tell you the road #'s of just about every model of locomotive the Reading, Conrail, and NS ran back into the late days of steam.

They're a neat group of people and if you get to know them they are (with a few exceptions) incredibly friendly and helpful folks.

PA Dan

[leroy]

The  N&W "M's" are one of my favorite locomotives... I always love to see pictures of them...
Thanks for takin the time to post these great pictures...
leroy

[Matt L]

The Amish and Mennonites here in PA seem to have a fascination with railroads. There's a Mennonite farmer named Jim Weaver a mile west of my town of Topton who is probably in his mid 60's who can tell you the road #'s of just about every model of locomotive the Reading, Conrail, and NS ran back into the late days of steam.

They're a neat group of people and if you get to know them they are (with a few exceptions) incredibly friendly and helpful folks.

This is also the case in NY- quite a few Amish live near the Finger Lakes Railway and they often watch the trains go by.

Nice shots, E.M! My one and only trip to Strasburg was 40 years ago this month, so you made my day! 

[NSMoWandS]

Great pics EM! Glad you enjoyed yourself. It is nice living only about an hour from there. When  modern life gets too burdensome... I can always step back in time at Strasburg! DE Dan