On the road again - Scranton, PA

On the last full day of our recent trip to the east coast we drove from Sayre, PA to Mount Laurel, NJ and had enough time to make a short visit to the Steamtown National Historical Site in Scranton, PA.  The site is in downtown Scranton and was originally owned by the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad which was most commonly known as the Lackawanna.

The focal point of the historic site is the round house.  Most of the round house has been converted to museum displays while several bays remain as a working repair and restoration facility.

We were there on a Monday and it was fairly quiet.  I understand that on the weekends there are back shop tours and excursions available.

The 90 ft turntable is still in use to move equipment in and out of the roundhouse bays used for repair and restoration.

Within the area around the turntable are parked several locomotives and rolling stock such as this Eire Lackawanna caboose.

The Eire Lackawanna was created in 1960 by the merger of the Eire with the Lackawanna.

There are a number of interpretive displays to explain in detail how a steam locomotive works including this actual locomotive with many cut away sections so the visitors can see what is inside.

Visitors are able to view the part of the working part of the roundhouse from elevated walkways.  I thought they really did a great job of utilizing the round house space and that the different types of areas tied in really well together.

While the exit was well marked on the highway, once we got into downtown Scranton we had trouble figuring out exactly where the entrance to the site was.

I have marked up a Googlemaps screen shot showing the entrance from Lakawanna Ave. marked with a red arrow.





There is so much to see I could have easily spent the whole day there and really hope to be able to do that some day.  It is well worth the stop even if you only have a couple of hours like I did.