"Pulling out of the Yard" by U.S. National Park Service , public domain
SteamtownNational Historic Site - Pennsylvania |
Steamtown National Historic Site is a railroad museum and heritage railroad in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is built around a working turntable and a roundhouse that are largely replications of the original DL&W facilities; the roundhouse, for example, was reconstructed from remnants of a 1932 structure. The site also features several original outbuildings dated between 1899 and 1902.
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location
maps
Official Visitor Map of Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor (NHC) in New York. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Map of the U.S. National Park System. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Map of the U.S. National Park System with DOI's Unified Regions. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Map of the U.S. National Heritage Areas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Official Tourism and Transportation Map of Pennsylvania. Published by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
brochures
Official Brochure of Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) Pennsylvania. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
https://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamtown_National_Historic_Site
Steamtown National Historic Site is a railroad museum and heritage railroad in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is built around a working turntable and a roundhouse that are largely replications of the original DL&W facilities; the roundhouse, for example, was reconstructed from remnants of a 1932 structure. The site also features several original outbuildings dated between 1899 and 1902.
You'd feel heat from the firebox, smell hot steam and oil; you'd hear the whistle, feel the ground vibrate, and watch as one-ton drive rods turned steel wheels. Remember the sound of "chuff-chuff" from the smokestack? Today, you can learn the history of steam railroad transportation, and the people who built, repaired and rode, as we work to preserve a special era in America's industrial history!
Our GPS coordinates are: N 41.410730 (latitude), W 75.671329 (longitude) using our Park entrance, Lackawanna Ave at Cliff St, 18503 General Driving Directions: Take I-81 to exit 185. Continue onto President Biden Expressway (formerly known as Central Scranton Expressway) and follow signs to Mifflin Ave. Turn left onto Mifflin Ave. Turn right onto Lackawanna Ave. Turn left onto Cliff St (Park entrance).
Visitor Center and Park Store
The Visitor Center at Steamtown NHS is currently closed due to long-term repairs on building systems and utilities. Please visit a ranger at the Information Kiosk to learn where to go and what to do. When you're done, head next door to the Park Store located in the historic Oil House for your passport stamp.
Our park entrance is located on Lackawanna Avenue at Cliff Street (just to the right of the new Lackawanna County Intermodal Center) in downtown Scranton. Our GPS coordinates are: +41.410730 (n-latitude), -75.671329 (w-longitude). You may also try using 350 Cliff Street with ZIP Code 18503 when using a GPS unit. This should bring you to Steamtown's parking lot.
6039 on the turntable
large black train with number 6039 painted in white lettering, sitting on turntable track
No. 6039 sits on the turntable within Steamtown's Roundhouse complex
Pennsylvania Box Car and Lackawanna Caboose
Black and yellow diesel engine 514 pulling a faded red box car and a dark red caboose
Nickel Plate Road No. 514 can often be seen moving cars around in the rail yard at Steamtown National Historic Site. Here, it can be seen pulling a Box Car and Caboose.
Steam Locomotives
Historic Baldwin Locomotive Works engine number 26 out for a test run on the tracks.
Did you know that Steamtown's locomotives are operated by volunteers? Every year, volunteers must complete hands-on training required by the Federal Rail Authority (FRA), Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee (NORAC), & National Park Service (NPS)
Big Boy returns to Display
large black train stationed on a track to the left of a paved road
Union Pacific "Big Boy" No. 4012 has returned to permanent exhibition
Sparks fly
A mechanic grinds metal in the Locomotive Shop causing sparks to fly towards ground.
Locomotive maintenance and repairs never end. Many employees and volunteers work year-round in the Locomotive Shop to repair the engines within Steamtown's collection.
Aerial view of Steamtown NHS
An aerial view of Steamtown which falls within the boundaries of a mid-size city.
This aerial overview of Steamtown NHS, which was created within the former railyards of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western "Scranton Yards"
Diesel No. 514 pulling the "Big Boy"
black train with yellow horizontal stripes and the number 514 pulling a larger black train on tracks
"Big Boy" No. 4012 is pulled along the tracks
2016 Recipients: George and Helen Hartzog Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service
Learn the invaluable contributions of the 2016 Hartzog winners, celebrating excellence in volunteerism.
Group of school kids pointing at things in a marsh area
Scranton’s World War I Doughboy Statue is Centerpiece for World War I Centennial Commemoration at Steamtown National Historic Site
Steamtown National Historic Site kicked off its centennial commemoration of America’s participation in the First World War with a June 14 Flag Day rededication of Scranton’s World War I “Doughboy” statue. The statue, originally dedicated in Scranton’s Duffy Park in 1940 by Rabiega-Gorgol Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post No. 3451, had been placed in storage due to ongoing construction of a new bridge on Harrison Avenue.
WWII military reeanctors with doughboy statue in the background.
National Park Service Commemoration of the 19th Amendment
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment the National Park Service has developed a number of special programs. This includes online content, exhibits, and special events. The National Park Service’s Cultural Resources Geographic Information Systems (CRGIS) announces the release of a story map that highlights some of these programs and provides information for the public to locate and participate.
Opening slide of the 19th Amendment NPS Commemoration Story Map
Staff Highlight: Flor Blum
We’d like you to meet Flor Blum, a Park Ranger in Interpretation here at Steamtown National Historic Site. // Estamos continuamos a celebrar la Semana de los Conservacionistas Latinos, y nos gustaría que conocieras a Flor Blum, un guardaparques en interpretación.
Two images side by side depicting Ranger Flor on duty at Steamtown NHS
Staff Highlight: Carlos Angeles
As we wrap up Latino Conservation week at Steamtown NHS, we'd like to introduce one more member of our Steam Team. Meet Carlos Angeles, a Navy veteran turned maintenance employee at Steamtown National Historic Site. // Estamos terminando con la Semana de la de los Conservacionistas Latinos, y nos gustaría presentar a un miembro más de nuestro equipo. Conozca a Carlos Ángeles, un veterano de la Navy convertido en empleado de mantenimiento en el Steamtown National Historic Site
Side by side photo of Carlos Angeles working at Steamtown NHS.
Lori Staely: Park Guide, Steamtown National Historic Site
Lori Staely is a longtime employee of Steamtown NHS and was the first female fireman and engineer to operate steam locomotives at our site. Now a Park Guide, Lori continues to share her passion for trains and educates visitors with firsthand knowledge of how a steam locomotive works. Recently we sat down with Lori to ask her about her career as a fireman and engineer.
Portrait of Lori in a black and gold conductor's uniform
Steamtown NHS National Park Week 2023
Steamtown NHS kicks off National Park Week on Saturday, April 22, with cab tours of the Union Pacific "Big Boy," ranger-guided programs, and locomotive shop tours.
colorful graphic of a ranger hat on a book with text reading your park story national park week
My Park Story: Andres Ridley
Meet Andres Ridley, a recent Latino Heritage Internship Program (LHIP) intern through Environment for the Americas (EFTA) at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area!
A young man wearing a blue shirt with a logo that reads
AmeriCorps Week Spotlights: Arlette Milstead and Emily Haryasz
In celebration of AmeriCorps Week, meet Community Volunteer Ambassadors (CVA), Arlette Milstead and Emily Haryasz, who serve at Redwood National and State Parks and Steamtown National Historic Site.
Smiling woman in safety goggles takes a selfie inside a locomotive cab.
Trolley Museum
Br
idg
Lackaw
anna A
venue
e6
0
State Office Building
Excursion
Loading
Platform
PHOTO AND ARTIFACTS NPS
Oil House
(Bookstore)
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Historic Site
Pennsylvania
The Trolley Museum is
near Bridge 60.
The romantic image that
steam railroading evokes
is reflected in George
Inness’s painting entitled
“The Lackawanna Val
ley” (above), showing
Scranton and the Dela
ware, Lackawanna and
Western railroad yard in
1855. Right: a 1920 rail
pass and the corporate
seal of the Leggett’s Gap
Railroad, a forerunner
of the DL&W. Note the
original spelling of the
rail line’s name.
The State Office Building and The Mall at
Steamtown are on Lackawanna Avenue.
The Mall at Steamtown
To the other side of them are the
Excursion Loading Platform,
ING
K
PAR
At Steamtown, engineers
not only help to maintain
their engines in top condi
tion, but demonstrate for
visitors the knowledge
and skill it took to operate
a steam locomotive.
Theater
LA
Between the Excursion Loading Platform
and the Lackawanna River is a circular
building that includes the Visitor Center,
History Museum, Roundhouse, Turntable,
1902 Roundhouse Section, Technology
Museum, Oil House (bookstore), and
Theater.
Mall Ramp
Mall Ramp,
CK
AW
AN
NA
Locomotive
Repair Shops
Locomotive repair
shops are adjacent
to the building.
RIV
ER
Steamtown
Welcome to Steamtown
You are about to experience a
part of American railroading that
hasn’t existed for nearly half a
century—the era of the steam
locomotive. Steamtown National
Historic Site was established on
October 30, 1986, to further public understanding and appreciation of the role steam railroading
played in the development of
the United States. It is the only
place in the National Park System
where the story of steam railroading, and the people who
made it possible, is told.
Steamtown occupies about 40
acres of the Scranton railroad
yard of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, one of
the earliest rail lines in northeastern Pennsylvania. At the heart of
the park is the large collection of
standard-gauge steam locomotives and freight and passenger
cars that New England seafood
processor F. Nelson Blount assembled in the 1950s and 1960s. In
1984, 17 years after Blount’s untimely death, the Steamtown
Foundation for the Preservation
of Steam and Railroad Americana,
Inc., brought the collection to
Scranton, where it occupied the
former DL&W yard. When Steamtown National Historic Site was
Green Sand
Storage Bin
and the Green Sand
Storage Bin.
ILLUSTRATIONS NPS / RICHARD SCHLECHT
Steamtown National Historic Site
preserves and interprets the legacy of steam-era railroading. Experience this era through tours of
the railroad yards and the buildings. Ride in a restored railroad
car or caboose. Watch Living History characters depict life in the
era of steam. Lectures in the theater and the film Steel and
Steam highlight related subjects
and provide glimpses into railroading’s past. We encourage
you to explore and contemplate
the site at your leisure.
created, the yard and the collection became part of the National
Park System.
The Steamtown Collection consists of locomotives, freight cars,
passenger cars, and maintenanceof-way equipment from several
historic railroads. The locomotives range in size from a tiny industrial switcher engine built in
1937 by the H.K. Porter Company
for the Bullard Company, to a
huge Union Pacific Big Boy built
in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company (Alco). The oldest
locomotive is a freight engine
built by Alco in 1903 for the Chicago Union Transfer Railway
Company.
A conductor and his
passengers, 1930s.
The park includes the following
points of interest, keyed to the illustration above. Other points are
labeled on the illustration.
1 Visitor Center Begin your visit
here for orientation to the park,
its facilities, and its attractions.
2 History Museum Exhibits here
highlight the people and the history of steam railroading in the
United States and include displays
on early railroads, life on the railroad, and the relationship between the railroad and labor, business, and government. A timeline
presents key moments in the history of railroading and the DL&W
from the early 19th to the mid20th century.
3 Roundhouse This remaining
portion of the 1902/1937 roundhouse has been rehabilitated and
is used to store, maintain, and display engines from the Steamtown
collection. A raised walkway af
fords opportunities to view work
in progress on the locomotives.
4 Turntable This 90-foot-long
turntable, used for turning engines toward the roundhouse, is
the type used here after 1900.
5 1902 Roundhouse Section This
three-bay portion remains from
the second roundhouse, built on
this site in 1902.
6 Technology Museum This museum offers a look at the technological changes and advances in railroads through the years. Included
are exhibits on steam locomotive
design, railroad a