Okay wise sages, I have a question for you. My wife and I are planning a trip sometime soon and I am in a pickle. For those of you who have been to either Steamtown in Scranton or the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay which do you recommend? I will thank you in advance for your help.
Of course, a lot would depend on where you’re coming from, or what you would like to see along the way, but if you were dropping in from the moon or elsewhere in space, I’d recommend Green Bay unhesitatingly.
I’ve never been to Steamtown and am very much a diesel fan. That being said I had a blast at the NRM in GB. Impressive collection and possibilities for railfanning in the area abound.
It depends. If you like rotting freight cars, nearly scrapped steam locomotives, and fake Alco S6s, then NRM is the place to go. If you like running steam, a great collection of locomotives, and some D-L MLW C636s, then Steamtown is the place to go…(can you tell I hate NRM???)
Phil
Are those the only two choices? I haven’t been to Steamtown (yet), so I’m not qualified to judge. If other choices are allowed, I’d recommend the Illinois Railway Museum at Union IL over Green Bay. Or both – you could drive between them in four hours or so.
I have only been to Steamtown, but I have to say I had a great time. I would definitly recommend it especially if they are runnning excursions in which case you can get some great steam photos from the bridge over the railyard. I think I used up three roles of film last time I was there taking pictures of their assortment of old rolling stock and locos that are lined up in the yard. I guess if your a hardcore diesel fan it might not be as much fun, but it is still a great place. Also there are some operating freight lines nearby where you can get some pictures of diesels.
emmar
I’m with Dakguy…the IRM is excellent, and you can also hit Rochelle (1 hr drive from Union) and check out heavy BNSF and UP action while you’re at it.
Why not do a “great circle?”
Green Bay, Rochelle, IRM, Elkhart (NYC museum), slide over to Scrantion by way of Detroit (actually Dearborn) and the Henry Ford (not a railroad museum as such, but they do have a C&O Allegheny and operating live steam there), then down to Pennsylvania Dutch country for the Strasburg and PA RR Museum (and the toy train museum). From there it’s not a long trip to the B&O museum in Baltimore, and I seem to recall a facility in West Virginia. If you want to wander just a little further south, there is the VA Museum of Transportation and the O. Winston Link museum in Roanoke…
I’m sure I missed some…
Just another option, but if you’re into mountain railroading, Colorado looks like it’s going to have a spectacular year operations wise. In no particular order, the following should all be operating this year:
- Durango & Silverton - The quintessential trip for narrow gauge lovers with absolutely fantastic scenery.
- Cumbres & Toltec - Maybe not quite as spectacular as the D&S, but the scenery is still top notch and I like the atmosphere a lot more.
- San Luis & Rio Grande - Standard gauge steam over La Veta Pass. Nice trip.
- Georgetown Loop Railroad - They had some woes last year, but I’ve heard that they should be getting the #111 soon. Hopefully that will help facilitate more consistent operations.
- Leadville, Colorado & Southern - Nice trip around the highest mountains in Colorado.
- Colorado Railroad Museum - They have 13 operating weekends this year, complete with the newly rebuilt flagship locomotive, #346
- Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Route - Take a trip to the rarified air above 14,000’ above sea level.
- Uncle Pete should be bringing one or both of his big locos down for the Frontier Days train. Will we see a repeat for the Colorado State Fair again, too?
- Ski Train - They operate in summer, too. Take a trip over the Moffat Line up to Winter Park.
- If you get bored with all the steam/tourist stuff (is that possible?), railfanning the Moffat Line is always nice excursion for seeing trains operate in fantastic scenery.
I’m sure everybody is proud of his/her hometown railfan opportunities, but I’m really pumped about the show that Colorado should be able to put on this summer. I can hardly wait!
Honestly, I don’t know if I would make a special trip to see either one. I can only speak to Steamtown, it takes a whole day (+ some if you want to go on an excursion), but what else are you interested in?
Don’t forget Mid-Continent Railway Museum in Baraboo.
i’ve been to green bay before. but not when their baldwin wore CNW. it recently got GBW paint this year (CRAP! and i didnt get a picture of it!). but they got a big boy whose cab you can go inside of and plenty of other stuff
personally i recommend IRM. lots of cool stuff there
[#ditto] Great idea, I second the suggestion made above.
NOTE: the following paragraphs contain highly-biased language.
Been to both. If you love steam, Steamtown, hands down. It is a trip back in time.
Best show at Steamtown is when they pull a locomotive out of the roundhouse for the day using the turntable. Then they clean the ashpan, etc. And they usually give free rides and run-bys. Woo woo!
At GB they have passenger cars pulled by a switcher incorrectly painted in CNW colors. Inside some nice exhibits (Big Boy, etc) and a nice drumhead collection. Outside under a shed they have one of the three Aerotrains built (RI).
Chico
Actually, if I had my druthers and travel wasn’t a big inconvenience, heaven would be riding/exploring/photographing the Strasburg RR and the Pennsylvania RR Museum across the street. Doesn’t get any better.
Chico
Chico,
I think you’re right, especially with Steamtown up the pike and the B&O museum down the pike.
RIX
Honestly, I think it depends on what you like. If you like steam, then Steamtown is the place. If you like diesel or electric personally I think IRM is the best choice as long as you go from April to October. They are closed during the winter. IRM has everything from GP7s to an SD45, and they have many things you cannot see anywhere else. They also have the first GP7 and the first SD7. I’ve never been to Green Bay before but I would like to go there some day.
again, it was recently repainted into GBW
Most of my negative feelings about Steamtown come from the publicity over a lack of steam-powered excursions and the mess of the PRR K4s. I was at Green Bay once, back when MILW 261 was still there. Since then they’ve put the GG1 and Big Boy under cover (check out Jay Eaton’s avatar).
Between either of those two museums and the Illinois Railway Museum it’s no contest: IRM thumbs-up and hands down!
I went to Steamtown this Summer and it was a fun time. Another good museum I know of of the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. They don’t really run anything there, but they have some pretty neat things there. Of course, I still prefer IRM over that one. It is just tough to beat the variety of things IRM has. They truely have something for everyone there. Like I said though, the one bad thing about IRM is that if you are planning a trip for the winter IRM would be out the window because they are closed until April.