Riding the rails

The railroad adventurers

I don’t know exactly when I developed a love for trains, but do  remember with great fondness, how much I looked forward to taking the rail home to visit my parents, after leaving home as a teenager. I loved that mode of transport as it passed through the lush, beautiful scenery, displaying nature at its best and exposingt all the things I normally missed when using other means. So I have continued to use the rails whenever I have the time. 

The most unforgettable rail trips I have ever taken were the trip from Salt Lake City, Utah to Denver, Colorado, over the Rocky Mountains and from Milan, Italy to Lucerne, Switzerland through the most pristine valleys you will ever see amid alluring mountains and sparkling lakes.The view on the fifteen- hour trip over the Rocky Mountains was so was so awesome too, that I could not pull myself away from the viewing windows.

But European trains are far more comfortable and sophisticated than those in the USA.

Such trips  so fed my hunger,  that I have always tried to use this form of transportation whenever possible. So although in early August,  I had just travelled by rail from Vancouver, Canada to Seattle, Washington then on to  Portland, Oregon, I could not resist the temptation to join in a week of riding the rails, when Florida Meet Up coordinator, Jenifer Weise posted an invitation to members to do so in Pennsylvania, just a week after I returned home. 

This trip was worth every sacrifice!

So, in Mid-August 2019, four of us adventurers flew to Philadelphia for a week of fun, visiting historic towns and riding on vintage trains.

Our pleasant adventure begun when we overnighted in the historic town of Media, Pennsylvania, where Wikipedia says, “land in the area was sold and settled soon after William Penn was named proprietor of the colony of Pennsylvania in 1681 by King Charles II of England.”

Naturally, the town is full of historic buildings and most homes downtown have been converted into offices and businesses without changing anything on the outside. It also appears that at some of these offices and businesses, have people living on the upstairs.

Happy diners under the stars in Media

Downtown on State Street, there seems to be a creative attempt to bring life to the city by having, “Dinner under the stars.” This is when all the restaurants on the street, move their tables and dining facilities to the street, which is closed off, so their customers can really dine outside, under the stars. It is an attractive concept and where we dined on our first day in the city, was even a working brewery, which had added a restaurant to its business.

Our railroad trek begun early next day at the Leigh Gorge Railroad, on an open-air coach drawn by a steam engine. The ride through the gorge was quite scenic but I was disappointed that I did not see any of the wildlife they promote as being normally around. 


This area is quite popular among cyclists who take their bikes up to the end of the route on the train, then coast downhill to Jim Thorpe, a small town of under 5,000 residents, with extremely attractive architecture all around.

After overnighting

One of the historic buildings in Jim Thorpe

in Scranton, the next day we headed to nearby Steamtown, a national historic site in Pennsylvania.

A section of Leigh Gorge

This was a fascinating site where you follow the evolution of the railroad systems including the trains that use them, from the days when animals were used to pull the cars, through to steam and eventually the powerful diesel engines.

The turntable

The railroad yard is full of a vast array of the restored trains that were used since the beginning of rail transportation. We also watched in awe the fascinating demonstration of how turntables were used to turn the engines around in the yard in the old days, how the coal was used to power the trains, even letting off the hot ashes at select points. 


Another interesting fact for me was an explanation of the codes used when the whistle is blown, for this was the means of communication between the driver and engineer in the olden days. We also learnt that the coaches had to carry sand, as this was needed when the rails got too slippery. These are things we never even think about as we take for granted what we enjoy today, because of the modernization.

After a tour of the yard and museum, we went for a ride on a steam engine through a historic section of Scranton.
Steamtown is a must for anyone, young or old, who loves the rail.
Our next trip was to Colbrookdale Railroad Secret Valley Line in the tiny town of Boyertown population just around 5000. It is described in its brochure a “the most preeminent year-round Excursion Trains in the county.” 

A young man holds an alligator outside a pet store

The original rail-bed there was built by returning Civil War soldiers and opened in 1869. When the manufacturing industry dried up, the rail line was all but abandoned and only resuscitated as a tourist attraction in 2014, bringing in thousands of visitors from all over the world, they tell us.

To get there, we were taken by our GPS though a number of small, pristine towns in rural Pennsylvania. 

The first thing that struck you about Boyertown was the different sizes, colors and types of bears the shops had in front of their establishments and I suppose, since the residents appear to be animal lovers, it should not be surprising that we found a pet fair in progress when we arrived.

One attraction offered on a Saturday morning by the railroad operators, is a brunch, and we were met with chilled mimosas as soon as we boarded the dining car of the vintage train. The breakfast was quite delicious, but hardly had we finished eating and about to head to the viewing car, the train came to an abrupt stop.

The dining car was attractively decorated for brunch

We did not feel any impact but the engineer announced that the locomotive had been hit by a falling tree as we wended our way through the temperate forest. At first, they assured us that they had chain saws on board and would soon clear the area, but later they discovered that the tree had penetrated a critical section of the locomotive so we would have to abandon our trip.

To let the passengers feel a little better, staff went around in the viewing car, offering free champagne. Luckily there was an engine at the back of the train so we did not have to wait for help to return to the station.

Workmen up front trying to move the tree

That trip must have caused a severe financial loss to the operators though, as they announced that everyone would be given vouchers so they could ride on another occasion, but as we were from out of state, we got a refund of half the fare, only paying for the delicious  brunch we had eaten earlier.

Disappointed, we undertook a forty-five-mile trip from Boyerton to New Hope which lies on the west bank of the Delaware River. 

There we planned to take a ride on the New Hope Railroad.

New Hope is an artsy little town which was once home to Andy Warhol, the noted American artist but as the conductor pointed to the overgrown remains of the house he once lived in, it clearly was not being preserved.

New Hope is also home to the Bucks Country Playhouse, described as America’s Most Famous Playhouse. It is located on the site of a former grist mill on the banks of the Delaware River.

Artsy New Hope

Even a love bus from the hippie days was around!

Facing demolition in the 1930s, the site was saved when a small band of artists, including Broadway playwrights refurbished and opened it on July 1, 1939.  Actors like George C. Scott, Grace Kelly, Bea Arthur, Walter Matthau,  Angela Lansbury, Robert Redford, Alan Alda, and many more have appeared on stage there.

The vintage coaches we traveled on in the New Hope Railroad, were constructed between 1913-1927. The engine alone weighs 65,000 lbs! The floors were made from concrete and many sections still have the original mahogany panels.

The route we travelled on was extremely attractive, snaking through wooded areas with deers peacefully grazing and a heavily flowing creek following us all the way. 

Halfway up the gorge, was an well kept picnic ground, maintained by the railroad.  There passengers who wished could disembark and return to the train after it  had turned around and was heading back to the station.

Our final railroad adventure was a visit to the sophisticated Strasburg Railroad Museum. There you not only have on display inside and in the yard, dozens of restored vintage rail cars and coaches but also, train enthusiasts are all around showing off their mini-rail displays.

Their display is far more extensive than the one at Steamtown and I believe them when they claim it houses one of the most significant collections of historic railroad artifacts in the world.

After an educational tour of the museum, it was time for our final ride in Pennsylvania, this time on a vintage Strasburg train.

According to their promotional material, Strasburg Rail Road is America’s oldest operating railroad with a charter dating back to June 9, 1832. First used for passenger and freight transportation, the short line limped along for more than a century until in 1958, on the verge of abandonment, the railroad was salvaged and given new life as a tourist railroad. When you visit Strasburg Rail Road, the first thing you can expect is an authentic experience of a real steam railroad. The locomotives and passenger cars, are not replicas, and our staff members are not reenactors. Strasburg Rail Road has five working steam locomotives and 20 operating passenger cars, including our President’s Car, First-Class Parlor Car, First Class Lounge, and our Dining Car. All equipment is restored and maintained on-site in our Mechanical Shop.”

This short ride on the vintage train took us mainly through Amish territory where we got a preview into the faming capabilities of this unique religious sect, in preparation for an actual visit to Amish Country the next day (see blog “Touring Pennsylvania Part 1).

This railroad adventure of ours was a bit exhausting at times, but every second was worth the effort and it demonstrated once again that Meet-Up leader Jennifer Weise’s organizing abilities are beyond compare.

OTHER PHOTOS FROM OUR WEEK LONG ADVENTURE

New Jersey hospitality and Ghost Town Pa.

I can’t recall who said these true words; you never get a second chance to make a first impression, but somehow that doesn’t seem to bother some people involved in the service industry in New Jersey.

Bridge over Delaware River joining Pennsylvania to New Jersey

The first time I encountered a problem in their service industry was around two years ago when we were going to Philly but decided to overnight in New Jersey. As I had always used Comfort Inn establishments when on the road, I made the reservation through them.

Never again.

The motel they gave me should not have been open to the public. For it was being expanded and lots of workmen were around doing all types of construction work, so the rooms and even the lounges were full of cement dust.

We stayed there about two hours, just long enough for a breather and worse, we had to go through the Better Business Bureau to get a refund from Comfort Inn for the terrible state of their accommodation!

The historic building in New Jersey was nice but the restaurant awful

Strike two was in August 2019, as four of us from a Meet-Up group in Florida led by Jennifer Weise, headed out to tour points of interest in Pennsylvania.  One stop was at the famous Wilmington Railroad, near where with the Delaware River separates Philadelphia from New Jersey.

 Feeling adventurous, we decided that after a wonderful train ride, we should walk across the bridge to over to Jersey to have dinner.
BIG MISTAKE.

First, we researched on line and found a nice sounding restaurant called “Boathouse “which advertised a wide-ranging menu on its web page. That suited us perfectly as one participant was vegetarian and another on a keto diet, so we needed good variety. However, when we walked over the bridge and followed directions to the location, we were met by a hostess who informed us that, despite what they had posted on line, they did not serve dinner, only Cocktails!

Hungry and disappointed, we were still determined to try something in New Jersey, so  we walked around and found a nice-looking historic building on Bridge Street with a restaurant called “Lambertville Inn" with seating on the patio. It surely looked attractive and the menu posted outside was appealing.

A section of graffiti highway

Well that was where the drama started, for the waitress was so rude that she walked off while one member was still making her order. Then the same customer got cold overcooked chicken as her main course, which could not be eaten. The manager was called and said he would take care of it. He didn’t however, for when the bill came, she was still being charged for the unpalatable food which they had taken away, uneaten. This led to a verbal confrontation which ended with the manger threating to call the police if the unpalatable food was not paid for! Rather than waste time, our coordinator, Jennifer, decided we should pay the bill but I don’t think anyone in the service industry in New Jersey will see any of us soon ever again!

We could still smell the smoke coming up from under the highway

Ghost Town and Graffiti Highway, Pennsylvania.

Another section of the sinking highway

Our visit to Ghost town in Centralia, Pennsylvania was far less eventful but quite interesting.

It is amazing , but Pennsylvania has quite a few ghost towns, seven to be exact.

These are towns that have been totally abandoned by residents for one reason or the other.

Some "artists" at work. They offered to share their paint.

The one in Centralia was ordered abandoned by the authorities when an underground coal-mine caught fire there in 1962. The fire has been burning underground for over fifty years, causing many areas of the surface to sink, including large sections of the highway which passed through the town That led to the government taking over the land, paying off those who lived there and ordering them to relocate. 

They then declared the town of Centralia, population of just under 2,500, a danger zone.

We could still smell the smoke when we visited in August 2019 and signs of the damage to the road

were everywhere.

Interestingly however, since then, people from all over the US and even overseas, have decided that despite the danger signs, the highway, should become a giant canvas.

It is now known as Graffiti Highway.

Even some plants got painted

Over the years, people have therefore been visiting the area to paint various portraits and write messages, not only on the roads, but also the rocks on the fringes and even the plants! And we could have practiced our artistic skills too, as we saw some artists at work who offered us cans of spray paint to work with.

As we drove around the abandoned and densely overgrown town, not even the foundation of the houses and businesses that were there in 1962, could be seen anywhere. However, there were still three occupied houses, where the few who refused to leave, now reside.

Waterfall Park aka Ricketts Glen Park

If I had the job to name Ricketts Glen State Park in Pennsylvania, I would call it Waterfall Park, for I have never seen so many beautiful waterfalls in such close proximity to each other anywhere else.

The trails to go through the glen down to around nine waterfalls is just over a mile, but if one is really fit and decides to do the full circle to see the fifteen named waterfalls, you are looking at around eight miles.

This park is situated on 2000 acres of land but we never got to do much more than visit the closer nine waterfalls in the beautiful gorge, due to the difficult, steep, muddy, slippery paths one has to pick the way on.

At the entrance is a moderately-appearing temperate forest with well-marked hiking trails, which belies the terrain awaiting you as you head downwards to the various falls, but it was worth every effort.

It took us almost and entire half day to visit nine falls for we had to put our feet down gingerly so as not to become casualties.  I hate to think how we would have been brought back to civilization if any of us had a serious fall! Besides, there were quite a number of other adventurers there when we visited, and this included a number of children who just did not understand the dangers they posed, not only to themselves, but to others, by racing around.

Happy troopers stand behind their leader on the trail

I visited this wonderful park in August 2019 with three other ladies from an outdoor Meet-up group in Florida and this visit through the scenic gorge was only one of the events we covered on a wonderful six day trek into Pennsylvania, organized by our fearless leader, Jeniffer Weise.

As a background from Wikipedia, “Ricketts Glen is a National Natural Landmark known for its old-growth forest and 24 named waterfalls along Kitchen Creek, which flows down the Allegheny Front escarpment from the Allegheny Plateau to the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians.”

Naturally, it was originally home to Native Americans but was taken away by the colonizing immigrants, and is now named in honor of a Bruce Ricketts who made lots of money in the lumber industry and in 1860, built a hotel there.

The park is now operated by the state which has modernized the facilities and allows free use by all and sundry.

Each waterfall we saw had its own unique features but the largest and most impressive was the huge Ganoga Falls a real  beauty from every angle.

Are the Amish changing?

The first time I ever heard of the Amish and saw some in operation, was some twenty years ago when I was visiting Belize in Central America. It was then a Belizean took me to visit the commune where these “strange” people, who rejected all progress operated.

I was told they had leased their settlement from the government and operated a self-sufficient and self-governing commune, where the Belizean government only got involved waswhen a murder was committed there.

They were strict about their dress, only wearing their traditional black and white outfights, refused to use rubber or plastic, made most of what they used etc. 

 A distressing problem for the local people I was told, was that their buggies with the metal wheels were damaging their roads.

The next time I saw any other Amish was at the farmer’s market in Philly where some sold their products. This was about two years ago and I recall how amused I was when one accepted a credit card, considering how I heard about them rejecting anything modern so of course electronic.

Clothes drying in the sun. They can now wear other solid colors

One of the many confusions I had up to recently, was in thinking that Amish and Mennonites were the same but when I googled it, I was informed “Theologically, the Amish and Mennonites have many similarities. Both are Anabaptist denominations and share ideals of

The chain at the back our guide called the "seat belts!"

pacifism. The Amish believed that mainstream Anabaptist churches were too liberal and that Christians should live separate from the outside world. The Amish practice a severe form of social shunning towards people who violate the church's guidelines. The most noticeable difference between the Amish and Mennonites is that Mennonites generally do not shun technology or contemporary society. Even Old Order Mennonites, who live more similarly to the Amish, allow modern conveniences like electricity in their homes.”

My most recent visit to an Amish establishment was in Lancaster County, Philadelphia.

This trip of four fun-loving ladies from Florida, was organized and led by champion hiker and leader Jenifer Weise in mid-August 2019. This trip made me realize how far this sect has come. (Anyway, I have been made to understand that they are not as dogmatic as I had heard but what they do in each commune depends on how far their leader is prepared to let them go.)

Men don't seem to use the pedals!

We actually visited the town of Intercourse, (the name does not imply what I and other outsiders would think. Also, to get there we passed through a place called "Gay Man town", but I jump to no conclusions about that either!) which is 85% Amish, who at last count was 7,200. According to a guide Rachael, it is the 2nd largest Amish settlement in the USA.

In Intercourse, I got a much better understanding about the sect.

Its a touristy town

While most of the town of Intercourse is just an everyday tourist town, we took the opportunity to go on a buggy ride and visit a farm, a very enlightening experience indeed.

Our guide Rachael was excellent, answering our questions forthrightly. For example, I wanted to know it the Amish practiced birth control as I heard they loved to have lots of children to work their farms. She however explained that it is something many probably practice, but it is just not discussed! Further, I wanted to know if they paid taxes to the regular government and used services like police and hospitals or were like those in Belize they didn’t and was told categorically, yes. However, in sickness, they tend to try home remedies before seeking outside assistance.

A 6 horse power plough at work (the guide's humor!)

What I learnt too was that they are far more unconventional than I thought as the plain black and white clothes are not mandatory as they can make their clothes from any solid color. Also, some work outside the homes and farms in professions where modern mechanical equipment is used, whereas they can own the equipment, they must employ non-Amish or English (as they call them), to actually use the equipment. Some also own motor vehicles but they put them in others people’s names and get a driver as they are not allowed to drive. Some even have indoor plumbing but not showers or baths! I also noted that these at Intercourse had no problem using plastic, rubber and even mechanical equipment powered by propane.

At the farm we visited where they did dairy, horse raring and grew acres of corn and soya

, we observed both mechanical equipment and a horse drawn plough which, since it had six horses pulling it, our guide quipped that it had six horse power. 

For farm work, they seem to alternate between using horses and mules, which they breed themselves. Those were some mighty steeds I saw at the farm we visited and according to our guide, the two horses that draw tourists in the buggies, can do that work for up to fifteen years. They also appeared to be quite healthy and extremely intelligent.

From some strange activity I saw,  I got the impression that male bicycle riders do not use the pedals or sit on the seats, but females do. Instead the men  and boys seem to treat the bicycle as some kind of a pushmobile in that they run beside is pushing on one pedal and will only get on when coasting!

A model Amish farm

From my own observations though, I gather that they are extremely wealthy people who are mostly large farmers living in huge houses. But they should be wealthy shouldn’t they, if they are  not big consumers like the rest of the society, shunning even electricity and making most of what they need?

Their wealth seems to be ploughed back into vast expanses of land where they farm, use mechanical equipment and even refrigeration, also powered by propane run generators, to keep their products fresh.

A beautifully laid out plantation

While the Amish there seem to be moving quite rapidly toward modernization, what was alarming to learn was how little they still value education, since the children must leave school to go and work by age fifteen What a waste of human resources.

However, our very informed tour guide Rachel did explain that they are able to go into professions where they assist the community, like firefighting and the medical services. I guess that too is progress.

OTHER PHOTOS TAKEN AT THE AMISH ESTABLISHMENT