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