# Strasburg



## deboardfam (Oct 8, 2010)

Hey guys.. been a year or so since I was on the forum. Was looking at getting into the hobby and things came up. Visited my brother in law and looked at his brothers O scale setup this weekend and it lit the fire again.
My fiance is wanting me to recreate something from her home area. Havre De Grace, MD. She also visited Strasburg a lot as a child and takes our children there as well. Still plan to do the layout that way but I am looking for some HO strasburg stuff. Seems I can only find O scale engines and cars. Anyone know where to find some? Any general information on what I should do for this future setup would be great. Trying to recreate the strasburg experience as much as possible for her.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

When I visited the Strasburg RR, they had a bunch of HO passenger (and maybe freight) cars in their hobby shop. Not sure about engines though. That would probably be your best bet.


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

I'd start with a generic version of the engines/rolling stock they run, then detail them to look like their engines (road number, lettering, etc.)

http://strasburgrailroad.com/gallery-photos.php

Hilly terrain with tons of tobacco farms in the area, and you would have to model the Caboose motel just outside of the yard, the tracks go right by it. (Good reason to have tons of cabeese....like we need a reason.) 

Best bet is take a ride on the railroad and take lots of pics.

Oh yeah, their tracks run in a point to point fashion (no turnaround loop). The engine runs forward exiting the yard, then at the end of the line the engine uncouples, runs around the passenger cars, recouples and runs in reverse back to the yard. At the yard it again runs around the cars to get back at the head.

At the end of the line it joins a major mainline (Amtrak went screaming by when my family and I were on it.) No industries to service as it's only a tourist line, so operation would be limited to running cars back/forth.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

sstlaure said:


> No industries to service as it's only a tourist line, so operation would be limited to running cars back/forth.


Not really true. They do run freight trains (not just the photo specials). They have an EMD SW switcher for that. They have had to hook #90 up to the front of the train with the diesel at the rear because of the weight of the train.


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## Smokinapankake (Sep 8, 2011)

This is exactly the type of operation schematic I'm considering for my basement layout. Looking at a double decker with either a helix in the closet or an elevator to get to the top level. 

My thoughts were based on the Heber Valley Railroad. They run from the town of Heber, Utah to a point about halfway down Provo Canyon called Vivian Park. The loco uncouples from the train, runs around, and then pulls in reverse all the way back to Heber. 

I like the tourist railroad idea as it allows me to run whatever locomotives I want. It also gives the RR a reason to exist even when there are no customers on line. I might modify the other end of the line into a small mountain town that is served exclusively by the railroad, meaning no way in or out aside from that RR. Sort of a vacation destination for outdoors type people - Mountain bikers, hikers, backpackers, fishermen, etc... And of course during the fall for the hunters. 

This means that the scenery must be stunning. Big mountains, steep canyons, sheer rock walls, dramatic bridges and so forth. Set in the fall time, somewhere in the Colorado Rockies, but not the narrow gauge line that we all know so well. 

At any rate, sorry to hijack the thread. As far as the OP's question, I have no idea. Good luck but probably the best place to look would be the Strasburg itself.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Smokin,

Interesting sidebar on your part. I like your thinking of incorporating a tourist RR theme into a layout. Keep us posted on your planning / progress.

TJ


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## deboardfam (Oct 8, 2010)

Thanks for the information guys.. the hard part is I have never been. 

Also it is a reason to buy a Thomas as well.. LOL. My son will be riding Thomas at Strasburg next week with my wife. I have to work so will be staying home in Kentucky.

I like the idea of just buying a blank slate steamer and painting it to match. Strasburg is only wrote on the coal car I believe. I dont have to be exact either. This is just a way to get me into the hobby and to ignite the memory in my wife's head.


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## Smokinapankake (Sep 8, 2011)

deboardfam said:


> I like the idea of just buying a blank slate steamer and painting it to match. Strasburg is only wrote on the coal car I believe. I dont have to be exact either. This is just a way to get me into the hobby and to ignite the memory in my wife's head.


This may be the quickest and most painless route to take. Does your wife really know the difference between different types of 4-6-2's anyway?
I don't even know!


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## deboardfam (Oct 8, 2010)

Lol no not at all.. she would be more interested in the scenery than anything. That would be the tough part to get right. 

We are all going to entertrainment junction saturday.. I saw someones post on it and them saying "its too far away" so I was like "hmm.. wonder where its at". Its only about 1hr and 45 mins from my house. We go to cincy all the time, just didnt know it was there.


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

You could always use one of the online satellite views to give you an idea of the area.

It's mainly Amish farmland. Use older style structures for the downtown area.

http://www.bing.com/maps/Default.as...id.YN754x12956061&style=r&mkt=en-us&FORM=LLDP

Click "Larger Map" then go to bird's eye view. You can zoom in really close and see the engines sitting out front and the passenger/boxcars sitting on the sidings. The tourist train departs the station headed East to Harristown. I believe it's about a 9 mile run to the end with a stop at mid point. You can follow the whole line on the satellite view. Where the line turns North to parallel a doubletrack main and intersects Lincoln Hwy E #30 is where the engine stops and runs around the cars for the return trip.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thumb's Up on Bing's "bird's eye" satellite images ... excellent "fly overs" for just about anywhere! You can rotate to N-S-E-W viewpoints, too.

TJ


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## deboardfam (Oct 8, 2010)

Wow thanks for that. Yeah that works great. 
Cant wait for entertrainment junction this weekend.. hope it lights the wife's fire as well.


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

I just read about that place. I might drive my kids down from Detroit for that. Looks cool


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## ontario mainline (Dec 6, 2008)

The shop that I went to only had, 1 box car and a 250 ton crane, with the 
Strasburg name on it. will be down there, 2 weeks from today 
I can check for you then. 

Ron


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## deboardfam (Oct 8, 2010)

Entertrainment Junction was awesome.. one of my favorite places because the whole family had fun..

Thanks Ontario.. my wife is on her way to Maryland right now and she plans to go somethine this week so I will have her check for me to see what they have.


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