Other efforts throughout the nation are that fortunate. Not all of them, but many. This is not a situation unique to Pennsylvania. I would propose that any other such small-scale preservation project in any other state–a station, a short line, a local museum, etc.–would be equally eligible for grant programs on the local, county, or state level if they applied for them and demonstrated themselves worthy of receiving such a grant.
Furthermore, in the twenty-five-plus years I lived in Pennsylvania, I don’t recall ever being given an option to select where my tax dollars went, nor do I think any such opportunity is afforded currently. So to say that “Pennsylvanians are willing to tax themselves” for the sake of rail preservation is, on the face of it, somewhat absurd.
Pennsylvania is fortunate to have a state-operated railroad museum (as is California, North Carolina, and West Virginia), and a general statewide
And here we have an example of what I referred to in my most recent post.
The Railroaders Memorial Museum, and the re-developed park at the Curve, has certainly enjoyed some pretty hefty infusions of government money from the 1980s onward, but the Museum got its start with local residents coming together to organize and build a museum, not as a result of “a n nice dose of Federal pork”. The group that eventually formed the Museum first incorporated in 1967-68, in part to lobby the Commonwealth to locate the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Altoona. That effort failed, and after said Museum was built at Strasburg, efforts continued towards building the Railroaders Memorial Museum and gathering the collection that exists today. I put my own $100 into the Museum as a tenth-grader in 1979-80.
On top of this, if any politician is going to be credited with steering “pork” towards the RMM and its projects, it should be Rep. Rick Geist, not Sen. Bud Shuster.
I’m as fiscally conservative as they come, but I’m sorry the facts don’t happen to fit your “government pork” narrative/beliefs.
Please don’t take it personally if I point out again that you are misunderstanding what I said. I said “one reason” for Pennsylvania’s many railroad museums is a willingness of Pennsylvanians to tax themselves for what they believe to be important. But I do not suggest it is the only reason. After all, doesn’t it follow that people who are willing to contribute their own time and money for this cause are also willing to see some tax revenue used for it? Finally, I never referred to any of the funding as “pork.” In fact I never referred to any Federal funding at all because I have no knowledge of it.
interesting, but Pennsylvania had the most streetcar and interurban trolley systems in the USA (and all of North America) in rthe immediate post-WWII era: PTC-Philly, Red Arrow, LVT. Altoona and Logan Valley, Johnstown Traction, Pittsburgh Railways, Conostoga Traction (Lancaster), Reading, Hershey, Willkabarree Ry., Scranton Transit, Laurel Line (Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley), West Penn, Fairmont Park (Philly)
Now, thanks to modern light riail systems, it is California wiith 5. Pennsylavania has only 2 or 3, dependiing on how you count.
I think it is awesome that there are so many tourist rail operations in my state, and that there are still more people willing to take on the challenge of operating another one. In the past few years, Steam into History, Inc., began operating a brand new 1860s style train based out of New Freedom near York. The Colebrookdale Railroad started up last year in Boyertown, and another one, the Allentown and Auburn, will begin in Topton. Even the Stourbridge may reopen soon.
Each of these shortlines has a scenic line it runs on. I could think of several other scenic locations that could use a tourist railroad running through that sadly do not have a train.
While it isn’t always a success, a shortline railroad finds it is a nice chance to build interest in bringing industry to their line by first bringing people. At least there is some use of the route, and maintenance to make it easier for allowing freight to return. All of this makes it better for those looking for something to do. Nothing wrong with that.
Perhaps its the rich railroad history pa has to offer. Many older rail fans identify with old prr, strong presence of cummter trains, and Amtrak today. Beautiful country to visit, including the horse shoe curve.
Pennsylvania was home to the railroad that is generally considered to have been the largest railroad in North America by several different measures. The State produced rail, bridges, freight and passenger cars, locomotives (steam, diesel, and electric), signal systems, brake systems, and scores of other railroad-related items. While the Pennsylvania Railroad is generally recognized as the largest, it has been said that there was a time when the Philadelphia & Reading was the wealthiest, or among the wealthiest, Corporations in the world.
Pennsylvania probably had more miles of railroad track per square mile than any other State, and it probably had more individual railroad companies. Several years ago, some friends and I tabulated the number of individual railroad companies in the Juniata River drainage area, which is just one area of Central Pennsylvania. We found over 100 individual operations, of which the Pennsylvania Railroad was the only Class One. These included city trolleys, Interurbans, plant switchers, industrial operations, logging companies, and shortlines. They included both narrow and standard gauge lines. I wish I knew what happened to that list.
In the 1940’s, Trains Magazine published exactly one map showing the railroads of an individual State. You guessed it: Pennsylvania.
Without the influence of Pennsylvania, the American railroad landscape would have developed much differently. Whether this is fully understood by modern museum-goers, museum personnel, or by the State officials who hold the purse strings, I don’t know. But it’s clear that the railroad history of the State is a rich source for them to draw on.