Strasburg Rail Road

By the 1820s, the canal system had replaced the Conestoga wagon as the primary method of overland transportation. When the Susquehanna Canal opened, the majority of goods were directed through Baltimore, Maryland, rather than Philadelphia.^[3][4] The small amount of goods that were destined for Philadelphia traveled via a wagon road through Strasburg.^[4] Philadelphia attempted to reclaim its position as a major port city by constructing the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in 1831. A railroad was easier and more cost effective to build than a canal. Because the new railroad would bypass Strasburg and cause Strasburg to lose its livelihood, a group of businessmen petitioned the state government for the right to build their own railroad to connect Strasburg to the Philadelphia and Columbia.^[5] A charter was issued by the Pennsylvania Legislature with the signature of Governor George Wolf on June 9, 1832 to "incorporate the Strasburg rail road [sic]".^[6]

Although the pre-1852 history of the Strasburg Rail Road is sketchy, it is believed that the line was graded in 1835 and was operational by 1837.^[5][7] The railroad operated as a horse-drawn railroad until it purchased a second-hand Norris-built, 4-2-0 steam locomotive named the William Penn in 1851.^[7] Controlling interest in the railroad was purchased by John F. and Cyrus N. Herr in 1863. The rails were replaced around the same time with heavier ones to accommodate the locomotive.^[8] In 1866, the Herrs were granted a charter to extend the Strasburg Rail Road to Quarryville; surveys were carried out, but the extension was eventually canceled because of an economic depression.^[9]

Isaac Groff managed The Strasburg Rail Road for about 20 years until the fire of January 16, 1871, which destroyed the depot, grist and merchant mill, planing mill and machine shop — in all, more than $50,000 worth of property, equal to $1,343,750 today. In 1878, the Strasburg Rail Road and the shops were sold.^[10] The railroad was sold again in 1888 to Edward Musselman, with the Musselman family retaining control of it until 1918 when it was purchased by State Senator John Homsher. By this time, the number of passengers had dropped off because tracks for the Conestoga Traction Company's streetcars had reached Strasburg in 1908, offering a more direct route between Lancaster and Strasburg.^[11]

In 1926, the Strasburg Rail Road purchased a 20-short-ton (17.9-long-ton; 18.1 t), gasoline-powered, Plymouth switcher locomotive — the only locomotive that was ever built specifically for the Strasburg Rail Road.^[11] By 1958, the railroad fell on hard times from the cumulative effect of years of declining freight business and infrequent runs, damage caused by Hurricane Hazel, and lack of approval for operation of the Plymouth locomotive by inspectors from the Interstate Commerce Commission.^[11][12]

Upon the death of Bryson Homsher, the Homsher estate filed for abandonment with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.^[13] Learning of the potential abandonment, an effort to purchase and save the railroad was organized by railfans from Lancaster Henry K. Long and Donald E. L. Hallock. They organized a small non-profit group to purchase the railroad. After the better part of a year of hard work, the purchase was completed on November 1, 1958.^[14] A week later, the first carload of revenue freight was hauled to what was then the only customer, a mill in Strasburg.^[14]

Tourist excursion service began on January 4, 1959, and the first steam locomotive arrived in June the following year.^[15]

Today, the line carries passengers on a 45-minute round-trip journey from East Strasburg to Leaman Place Junction through nearly 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) in southeastern Lancaster County. A percentage of each train ticket's revenue is contributed to the Lancaster Farmland Trust.^[16]

The railroad operates the United States' only operational wooden dining car on which visitors may dine while riding. Attractions at the station include the fully operational 15 in (381 mm) gauge Pint-Sized Pufferbelly^[17] (Cagney steam-powered ridable miniature railway), a vintage pump car and several c.1930s "cranky cars", along with several gift shops and a cafe.

The railroad's mechanical and car shops maintain and restore locomotives and rolling stock and a wide variety of public and private clients, including other railroads, steam locomotive operators, train museums, and other heavy industries. In 2016–17, the shops were enlarged to 30,000 square feet (2,790 m²) to accommodate increasing demand for their services.

Its freight department provides shipping and transloading for local and regional clients. Interchange is with Norfolk Southern at Leaman Place Junction on Amtrak's Keystone Corridor.^[18]

When the railroad returned to operation for tourism, freight business was still pursued but was diminished compared to the past. Business from the Homsher feed mill ended in 1976, and one of the only sources of freight traffic was imported plastic pellets for a battery manufacturer in Lampeter. Occasional carloads of lumber were also carried, but freight traffic as a whole came to a near standstill a few years into the 2000s; the plastic pellet business was lost to trucks. Several years went by with no freight shipments at all, and the railroad was in danger of losing its designation as a common carrier entirely. The railroad made a strategic decision to actively seek out new freight business in 2008; at the time, the railroad was averaging less than one freight car per month. Improvements were made to the main line to accommodate the heavier weight of modern freight cars, and the railroad also purchased EMD SW8 #8618 to handle freight duties.^[18]

Since 2008, freight carloads have increased substantially, which resulted in the development of a new $1.5 million transloading facility funded by the railroad and matching grants.^[19] Increased freight shipments justified an additional locomotive purchase, a rebuilt EMD SW9, in 2019.^[18] On February 12, 2023, the railroad inaugurated a six-track freight yard located off of Route U.S. 30, the Lincoln Highway.^[20] The United States Department of Labor ordered the railroad in January 2025 to pay back wages and compensatory damages to an employee of the Strasburg Railroad who had unlawfully fired after the employee raised safety concerns.^[21]

• On September 4, 2014, an empty excursion train was being moved from the station when open-air passenger car No. 99 suddenly derailed.^[44] There were no passengers on the train as well as no injuries occurred.^[44] The derailment was caused by a glitch in one of the track switches by the station.^[44] The crew eventually got the passenger car back on track by 3:30 pm.^[44]
• On November 2, 2022, while running around a passenger train at Leaman Place, No. 475 collided head-on with an excavator parked on a siding.^[45] The impact punched a hole in the smokebox door.^[45] No crew or passengers were injured, and the damage done was deemed relatively minor.^[46] The collision was broadcast live via Virtual Railfan and was caught on video via cellphone by one of the passengers on board the train that day.^[45][47] The accident was caused by a misaligned switch, and was investigated by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).^[45] Strasburg announced that repairs on the No. 475 locomotive had commenced on November 3, the day after the accident.^[48] Repairs were completed with the No. 475 locomotive returning to service on the 7th.^[49]
• On March 27, 2026, a bomb threat was reported at the railroad, and Pennsylvania State Troopers investigated the incident while temporarily condemning the railroad to the public.^[50][51] SRC announced their temporary closure during the incident via their Facebook account.^[50][51]

The Strasburg Rail Road and its locomotives have appeared in a number of films and television series, including Hello, Dolly!, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Wild Wild West, The Gilded Age, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, The Men Who Built America, and I Heard the Bells.^{[52][53][54][55][56][57]}