All Aboard the Strasburg Rail Road

We recently took a lovely long-weekend trip to Pennsylvania. We had so much fun -- we saw and experienced so many interesting things that one blog post couldn't do it justice. So I'll tell you about it day by day. This is Day 3. 

It was another early morning for us. Sleeping in a bunk bed was not quite as fun as I imagined. Thankfully, it's been almost 20 years since I had to sleep in one regularly in college!

Sawyer was a little calmer this morning, crawling into bed with Grandmother to watch TV for a bit. It wasn't early enough to catch the sunrise, but it was still pretty early and serene out. As I peered out the tiny caboose windows, I noticed a couple hot air balloons off in the distance. I decided to get dressed and stroll around with my camera … without a bored 4-year-old tagging along.

I didn't see any more balloons, but I did enjoy the quiet and the scenery. I decided to climb back up the viewing tower to see what I could see. The Amish farmer next door was already busy plowing. I could see the rail yard where we'd be going later that day. And the animals in the barnyard were entertaining, too.














Sawyer thought my rooster video was hysterical when I got back to the room. 





We ate a delicious breakfast in the dining car, where we had a fabulous view of the Amish farmer plowing and planting with six giant draft horses. They would plow a long row and complete this amazing side step to turn around at the end. Later, the farmer's children joined him on a different piece of equipment that dropped a tiny plant about every foot in the furrowed soil.



We turned in our key to the caboose after breakfast, bought a few souvenirs and headed out to the train depot.

It was barely 10 a.m. I realized it was going to be very difficult to have our picnic lunch stop when we'd just eaten a massive amount of French toast and eggs and bacon. I decided we should do something to kill some time before visiting the rail yard. Since our yard sale stop had been a bust, I decided to look up thrift stores. We found a Mennonite church shop in the next town over. The winding road through the country to get there was beautiful. The sky was bright blue, and we passed half a dozen white farmhouses with red barns, grazing cows and laundry flapping in the breeze. It was like driving through a postcard.

After a bit of shopping, we headed back to the Strasburg Rail Road. We packed our bag full of snacks for lunch and got in line at the station for our tickets. Sawyer was so excited to ride the train, but I thought we should we wait until the 2 p.m. departure. So we strolled around and did some of the kiddie rides first.




This guy was across the street, outside the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. I just thought it was super cool that he not only had the truck but dressed the part.  

The three of us rode the pufferbelly train, a miniature version of the full steam engine. It was a little weird because the track wasn't a loop, so at each end of the park, they'd unhitch the engine, bring it around on a siding and hook it back up to the front. But the fun part was that we caught a glimpse of Thomas in a shed we passed near the back of the rail yard.

Then Sawyer rode the cranky cars, his favorite part. They weren't crowded, so he made several treks around the circle.





We snapped a few pictures while we waited for our train to return to the station.


I was surprised that the tracks were just open … it was cross at your own risk … not that you couldn't see when a giant train was coming. 





So we boarded a coach car for the 2 p.m. train departure. The cars were beautiful, and we were on the lowest level of "nice." You could pay more to ride one of the fancier cars. But the coach was fine for us. Plush green seats that flip-flopped so you could ride forward or backward, with two seats facing each other. The cars had beautiful wood paneling with brass light fixtures and leaded glass windows that could be raised and locked open.







There was even a photographer dressed up in old-timey clothes who would take your picture.



We rode through the countryside before coming to a halt in Strasburg, where the engine was uncoupled and moved up to the other end of the train to pull it back to the station. The conductors had to help guide the engine back to the front.



After traveling back toward the station for about five minutes, we stopped at Groff's Station, where you could disembark for a picnic. Some people got back on, while we got off to have lunch.



Grandmother and I enjoyed our fruit, cheese and crackers while Sawyer ran around to all the playground equipment. He finally sat down and ate a bit. I watched the nearby dairy cows while he played with a little girl a few years older than him.








The cows were very interested in what the farmer was doing on the other side of the fence.

About 45 minutes later, the train returned. We knew it was going to pass by before returning, so it gave everyone time to pack up.







We reboarded the train and returned to the station, where it took a solid 30 minutes for Sawyer and me to agree on a souvenir.

It was cool to see them lining up the engine to hook it up for the next trip. It took them a couple tries, but this "conductor" was clearly a very experienced railroad man. (We actually saw him eating breakfast at the Red Caboose dining car!)



We left late in the afternoon, and Sawyer fell asleep in the car before we'd driven a mile. So we drove into Lancaster and checked into our new hotel. Next door was a Goodwill store, so Grandmother went into check it out while I sat with the snoozing Sawyer.

When he woke up, he and I joined her and poked around the store. We ate a late dinner before heading back to the motel to turn in.