Station Updates:
(18 November 2009, 12:59 pm) Be on board Saturday this November 21st for the last run of the Wine & Cheese train this year!
(18 November 2009, 12:59 pm) Be on board Saturday this November 21st for the last run of the Wine & Cheese train this year!
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Click any open day above for information on trains and times.
The Strasburg Rail Road was incorporated by a special Act of the Pennsylvania Legislature. Andrew Jackson was President of the United States. Over the next hundred years, the Strasburg Rail Road would become an important part of the transportation network in Central Pennsylvania, carrying both freight and passengers.
Although passenger travel dwindled with the advent of the electric trolley in 1901, the need to transport freight during World War I and World War II kept the railroad going.
Few freight revenues, mounting operating costs and a series of damaging storms led owners to petition the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for abandonment. Local industrialist and railroad enthusiast Henry K. Long along with Donald E. L. Hallock organized a group of individuals to purchase the property and restore it. Shares of stock sold for $450 to raise enough money for the purchase.
Twenty-four stockholders (named vice presidents) purchased the Strasburg Rail Road for $18,000 from the Homsher Estate, but the railroad was inoperable. Tracks desperately needed repair. At some locations the tracks were totally buried underneath farm fields, leading one investor to suggest that the privately-held railroad company join the local 4-H Club.
The first passenger train in forty years departs from the Strasburg station. The train was pulled by Engine No.1, the Plymouth locomotive, powered by gasoline.
Stockholders purchase the Strasburg Rail Road's first steam locomotive, Canadian National number 7312, renamed Number 31. The same year, an 1882 Victorian train station was purchased in East Petersburg, PA and moved in sections to Strasburg where it was reassembled.
At 7:00 pm, Number 31 takes its inaugural roundtrip run on the Strasburg Rail Road, returning steam locomotion to America's oldest shortline railroad. William Moedinger was at the throttle. Visitors begin to come from around the country to ride behind the steam locomotive.
Strasburg Rail Road stockholders purchase 5 more steam locomotives, including a rare camelback engine (Number 4) that burns anthracite coal.
The Strasburg Rail Road celebrates its 150th birthday.
The Strasburg Rail Road celebrates "40 Years of Steam." Engine 31 recreates its first run with William Moedinger's son Linn at the throttle.
Strasburg Rail Road celebrates its 175th birthday. From its early years as a connecting railroad with the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, to its rebirth as a living experience of authentic steam railroading, the Strasburg Rail Road is truly a legacy for all to enjoy.
America's oldest short-line celebrates 50 years since its rebirth. In 1958, twenty-four visionaries breathed new life into Strasburg Rail Road, saving it from abandonment - keeping it alive to educate and entertain for generations to come.
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