October 17, 2022
Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway * Super Dome

The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway is located in the picturesque town of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. The town is named in honor of Native American sports legend Jim Thorpe, one of the greatest all around athletes of his day. As tempting as it would be here to veer off into greater detail on Jim Thorpe’s life and accomplishments, this is a long trip report and so in the interests of moving right along, I would encourage anyone desiring to learn more about this fascinating man to Google his name.

The town of Jim Thorpe is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. From Boyertown that meant that I had to backtrack and drive north about sixty miles. Driving to and from Jim Thorpe provided ample evidence that Pennsylvania is surely one of the most beautiful states in the U.S. Driving around the back roads and highways of Pennsylvania over the past three days has been one of the best parts of this trip. I mean, New England is often regaled for the beauty of its fall foliage, but speaking as one who’s driven all over New England in the fall, I feel I can say on good authority that Pennsylvania, as well as Maryland and West Virginia are every bit as beautiful.

While the focus of this portion of my trip report is on riding fall foliage excursion trains around Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, suffice it to say that if any of you never rode a train but instead just spent a few days driving around the back roads and staying in the quaint inns and motels of this area, you would enjoy a fantastically memorable vacation that would surely leave you wanting for more.

The town of Jim Thorpe sits in a picture postcard setting amidst the steep sloped hills of the Poconos. Add some fall color to this setting and you’ve got one of the prettiest places in the world.



Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania


Any town as idyllic as Jim Thorpe is naturally going to be a magnet for tourism. While I expected that, I was wholly unprepared for the degree of tourism that I encountered upon driving over the Lehigh River bridge and heading into town. People were everywhere – on the streets, in the streets. Parking was highly regulated with signs everywhere limiting who could park where or how long they could park there. Commercial parking lots were available, but the rates - starting at about $20 for a few hours – combined with their distance from the train depot and the long line of people waiting to buy tickets at the depot had me thinking twice about whether it would truly be worth the trouble just to take a short one hour train ride through the gorge.

I understand and to some extent appreciate tourism and its benefits to both the local economy and the visitors. After all, I work in a tourism related business. At the same time I am naturally repelled by scenes such as I witnessed today. The sheer excess of people milling about and the parking situation combined to outweigh the natural beauty of the town and the potential enjoyment to be derived from a train ride through the gorge. It was an easy decision to skip the train and the town and keep going. Maybe I’ll come back in the winter.

So then, my next ride will be aboard the famous Strasburg Railroad, located 110 miles to the south in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Amish country in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County.

Tonight I’ll be staying in Ronks, PA in a rather unique motel called the Red Caboose Motel. It’s a collection of 38 old cabooses that have been converted into motel rooms. Rather a unique concept to be sure, and snug accommodations no doubt but what the heck – you only live once and this is a railroad themed portion of the journey, so I’m looking forward to it. Below are some pictures from my stay -



The Red Caboose Motel


Lancaster County Sunset from my caboose


My room at The Caboose

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October 18th, 2022 * The Strasburg Railroad * First Class Parlor Car
https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/history/
https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/ou...ss-lounge-118/

According to its website, the Strasburg Railroad is the longest continuously operating railroad in North America (Since 1832) and the most visited heritage railroad in the continental United States. That last qualification is interesting. The most visited heritage railroad in the continental United States… I don’t know of any big railtoad operations in Hawaii, but back home in Alaska we have the Alaska Railroad and the White Pass & Yukon Railway, both of which are heavily patronized by the cruise ship industry.

In any event, although a ride on the Strasburg is only an hour long, the opportunity to ride upon the longest continuously operating railroad in North America was too good to pass up, especially since I was in the area anyway.

As I enjoyed coffee in my caboose this morning, I’d occasionally hear the unmistakable clip-clop clip-clop of the horse and buggy combos utilized so often by this region’s Amish residents. The main road past the hotel was just forty yards or so outside my caboose. It was tempting to get a picture but I always remember that line from the Harrison Ford movie “Witness” where a tour group is informed that the Amish don’t like to have their pictures taken.

The Strasburg Railroad Depot is located just a mile or so around the corner from the Red Caboose. Following a delicious omelet in the motel restaurant, I headed over to the station. Parking was easy and plentiful, perhaps because it was a Wednesday instead of a Saturday. I collected my ticket at the ticket window and awaited the “All Aboard!” call.



All Aboard at Strasburg Depot!


The Strasburg Railroad offers a variety of accommodations on its daily departures. It should also be noted that like most all of these railroads that I’ve reported on, the operations are year round and varied. For example, over the course of the year the Strasburg Railroad offers Easter and Christmas trains along with various themed trains such as murder mysteries, wine and cheese rides, dinner trains – well here, see for yourselves!

Short rides generally translate to low prices. As such I think I paid only $32 for a ride aboard one of the railroad’s
First Class Lounge cars. These cars feature, soft, upholstered captain’s chairs that swivel for a full view of the countryside. For comfort and spatial ambiance alone this car was worth the extra few dollars I paid relative to a seat in the coach car.



First Class Parlor Car Linn W. Moedinger


Loaded up and ready to roll!


If you like the scenery in that old television show Green Acres, you’ll like a ride on the Strasburg Railroad. From what I can see most of Lancaster County is farmland and what the view lacks in exciting mountains and gorges it more than makes up for in pretty rolling farmland dotted with old white farmhouses, big barns and towering silos. Along the way a car attendant offers coffee, juice and soft drinks although beer, wine and cocktails are also available for those who want them this early.



Bucolic Lancaster County Farmland


Green Acres


Farm close up


It was only 11:00am by the time we returned to the Strasburg Depot. As I was exciting the parking lot, I spied a beautiful sight – one of the prettiest and fastest steam locomotives ever built – the Norfolk and Western 611 - one of the last mainline passenger steam locomotives built in the United States and representative of the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology. It was rated at up to 5000 horsepower - much more than the single diesels of the day – and it was capable of top speeds in excess of 100 mph.



Norfolk & Western’s classic #611


It so happens that the Strasburg Railroad offers occasional excursions with the 611 leading the way. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not a big steam enthusiast but for certain engines I’ll make an exception. Norfolk and Western’s #611 is just such an engine, so it looks like I’ll be making another visit to Lancaster County further on down the line.

In the meantime, I’ve got an engagement with the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, located 175 miles to the west in Cumberland, Maryland. Time to hit the road!