21st Birthday Trip to Steamtown
This is another one of my birthday trips to Pennsylvania for the sake of trains. We're in Scranton, which is known for a gorgeous train station that was originally operated by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, but is used today as a hotel owned and operated by Radisson. Scranton is also known for a short line named the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad and, best of all, a fabulous railroad museum called Steamtown National Historic site. A few days prior to this trip, we chose to reserve for a one-night stay at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel. We thought it would be perfect for my love of trains. We also wanted to take a scenic train ride at Steamtown. Scranton is about three and a half hours from my home in Damascus, Maryland, and we drove a long way on the same day as my birthday.
When we arrived at Scranton, it was getting dark, but we were able to visit Steamtown shortly after our stay at the hotel. After checking in, we relaxed for a few minutes until I chose to do some railfanning in the platform section of the station. But nothing seemed to happen that evening, so I had actually been railfanning the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad before visiting Steamtown the next day. For my birthday dinner, we went to a diner that is open late, and we had a delicious meal there. Even my dessert was tasty, too. Then we returned to the hotel for our first and only night to stay.
The next morning, we went downstairs for breakfast at the same beautiful building and began packing for our return trip to Damascus. Unfortunately, our room felt rather stuffy and humid because the air conditioning/ventilation unit didn't seem to work properly. I was checking the scenic train ride schedules for the day on the internet when it suddenly showed an alert notifying that Steamtown had to cancel all the rides, which was another frustrating moment. Despite the lack of air conditioning in our room, everything else was generous in the hotel. It was like a grand European railway hotel. As we parked at Steamtown, the biggest thing that caught my eyes is the Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4012. It is the largest steam locomotive on static display at Steamtown and is among the biggest and most powerful steam locomotives ever to exist in the world. During our admission at the museum, we found out that the cancellation of the train rides was likely due to a lack of staff for the day. But like all museums, I enjoyed learning a lot about trains and spent all day exploring around this magnificent museum. While the museum was closing, we ended up buying some nice souvenirs for myself at a gift shop. Our last activity in Scranton was another dinner at a seafood restaurant where I could see a model train surprisingly running around the ceiling. This was a wonderful conclusion before our journey home to Damascus. As a no-brainer, my very favorite part of Steamtown is the UP Big Boy steamer. Seeing the Big Boy really made my day to celebrate 21 years of my happy life!
