From carpenters nails to t-rails for railroad tracks to steam locomotives, the Stanton brothers had a big impact on this town. At the time when trains were just taking off, northeast Pennsylvania was a busy place. The hard coal came from their hills, the rail lines were produced in their foundries, and soon the area was a major rail transportation hub.
The last fact is what caught my attention and that of the National Park Service too. Due to the important roots of steam locomotion in Scranton and the existence of a railway yard with roundhouse the NPS chose to build the Steamtown National Historic Site here. The site has a museum, a working steam line, a functioning roundhouse, lots of trains and a whole lot more.
This place really is for those who love trains of the steam era. My favorite section was the Train Technology building where everything from switching to lighting to basic steam engines was covered. The repair shed was in operation and six trains were being worked on. I saw the last of the day’s trains return to the station and I walked around and admired the still-functioning turntable in the middle. It’s still used to garage trains.
I had a blast. While I’ve been to many excellent train museums (York, Sacramento, Newcastle, Glasgow, Baltimore, etc.), all the great ones have something that sets them apart. The rail-yard roundhouse is what I liked best here. I also enjoyed that it was situated in such an historically appropriate place with iron works, anthracite coal, t-rail manufacture, railway lines, and a history of being an important transportation hub. This place was a winner.
A scale model of the site can be seen below.
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