A Visit to Steamtown--Part Three-Ideas for Restarting the Site

As I mentioned in the first two installments, what most struck me about Steamtown on a perfect late summer Friday was the utter silence of the place. Turntable areaThere were indeed few visitors, but more importantly there was no rail activity other than the (very quiet) diesel-powered Yard Shuttle which was discretely and almost furtively moving around the site. Yard Shuttle enroute

For Steamtown to excite any real passion or understanding it must seem alive, active and it must tell its story in a way that is cumulative, emphasizes the chronological history of railroading and most importantly explains what was steam and why that matters.

Clearly the most important need is live steam operation on a regular and routine basis. But ironically I’d like to return to that later. Yesterday we shared a walk through the back yard/dead line(s) at Steamtown. Regardless of the condition of the equipment seen there, several unexploited possibilities exist to dramatically improve Steamtown’s interpretation of the story of steam. 3377 awaits?

In a real way the collection is more complete than the “too many Canadian engines” notion might suggest. The average visitor has little idea why one engine was big, another fast and yet another small–but powerful, like the much discussed CN Hudson tank #47. Steamtown needs to reallocte its locomtive displays so they better explain their roles and that includes the rusty relics if there is any intention to retain them.

I suggest setting u

Further to this post, the ideas above intentionally require very little expenditure from Steamtown’s very tight budget. A response to the second of these posts correctly points out most items need to go under cover. But any new buildings are not practical now. My hope is to offer ideas that might be doable now/soon by the NPS without major new appropriations.

Carl Fowler

Railroads wold keep old class engines for spare parts. NPS has already sanatized to old shop complex. At least part of the complex should be left as authentic.