Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

What’s in a name? Actually, quite a bit. We are the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, not the “Pennsylvania Railroad Museum” or some other variation of the name. We do not just focus on the Pennsylvania Railroad, but all railroads that serve the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, past, and present. We are a Museum devoted to telling the rich stories of railroading in the Commonwealth, including not just the railroads themselves, but also its manufacturers, its support industries, its workers, and its travelers – then and now. The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania was created by an act of the state legislature (1963), with a site selected in Strasburg, Lancaster County (1965). Very gradually, the Museum began acquiring its first locomotives and railroad cars, as early as the mid-to-late 1960s. The first phase of Museum construction yielded the installation of a 100-foot ex-Reading Company turntable and yard tracks (1970-1971), while the second phase saw the completion of the Museum building (1972-1974). In April 1975, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania opened to the public, the first structure in North America built specifically as a railroad Museum.