> Sorry my message got deleted.
> Happy 1218 Day Jim!! Photo above.

> Is this supposed to be contemporary train
> locations, sites of historical importance,
> heritage museums, or great tourist
> railroads.

> I can make a better list knowing what you
> want.

> By the way are we talking U.S. Only or North
> America....Don't forget the Spiral Tunnels
> on Kicking Horse Pass...CP in Western
> Canada!!!

> Greg Scholl

Greg, I'm intentionally leaving it pretty broad as I expect to make a pretty wide stab at this myself so I'm trying not to pigeonhole it into a specific slot. So, have at it!
And a Happy 12/18 to you too! Jim


http://nctrans.org
Wrinnbo@aol.com

1. East Broad Top Railroad (Rockhill, Orbosonia)
2. Enola
3. Steamtown, USA (Scranton)
4. Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Steam Railroad (Kempton)
5. Port Clinton
6. Jim Thorpe
7. Allentown
8. Reading
9. Scranton
10. Reading Company Technical & Historical Society (Leesport)



norfolk_western_611@hotmail.com

Please don't forget the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL, northwest of Chicago!

Nowhere else can you see IC201, the first true steam engine built for suburban service [yes, it has finally arrived!], ride in a coach train drawn by a "Russian decapod", ride on a genuine Zephyr, see and ride on the extensive CSL/CTA fleet, and ride on and/or see the extensive interurban collection (NSL, CA&E, IT, TM,and the South Shore, too). The depot was built in 1851 by the Galena & Chicago Union (later CNW) and moved to the Museum site from neighboring Marengo
in 1967. An extensive diesel collection [both operating and static], and trolley buses and motor buses, too! Also an active freight car restoration program, and two libraries as well!

beast@mc.net

Jim: I've read the various lists or nominees with interest. A case could be made for all. But one I have not seen on anyones list thus far, is the streetcar operation in New Orleans. Here are vintage trolley cars STILL doing what streetcars were meant to do; move people! I would suggest that a visit to New Orleans to witness the movement include picking a spot and watching the cars come by (preferably in the "rush hour") for a period of say, half an hour minimun, and then a ride over the whole line. I realize there are other electric street operations still in existance in various cities but none use the vintage era cars that New Orleans has in service.

midlandblb@cs.com

Jim, even though the shops in most cases are no longer there, how about the sites of the great manufacturers:
Lima, Ohio
Philadelphia, PA
Schenectady, NY
Juniata, PA
Roanoke, VA

Fitz's Steam Railfan page
fitzrr@pioneer.net

> but none use the vintage era cars
> that New Orleans has in service.

San Francisco falls into a similar category. Nobody has mentioned Nevada Northern and its complex.



wyld@sbcglobal.net

I want to amend my list to 11, adding New Orleans--close call between it and San Franciso, but I give the nod to St. Charles for venerable pedegree, continuous use, overall ambiance, and Southern representation. Though a heck of a case can be made for the Cable Car + F-Market double threat.

eledbetter@rypn.org

If you want to include a centrally located site that can be visited nearly all year, has the biggest collection of steam locos in North America, and where you can actually get in the cab of a Big Boy all the time its open you have to include the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. Add lots of diesels, including one with the hoods off and the guts exposed and labeled, electrics, and operating trolleys in summer and its a sure thing.

Please note that we will not be open on Mondays after the first of the year, except for holiday Mondays. See the link.

Museum of Transportation
rdgoldfede@aol.com

You said “Rail Heritage” so that leaves out some of my favorite scenic rides. Here goes.

1.) East Broad Top. On the Endangered list. All original, complete “turn of the century” complex. Nothing else like it. Go during fall spectacular to get the shop tour.
2.) B&O Museum and Mt. Clair Shops. Historic equipment, historic buildings.
3.) California State Railroad Museum. Stunning displays of highly restored engines from the “golden age” of railroading
4.) Cass, the railroad and the town. A great train ride and a complete company town.
5.) Spencer Shops. The real deal, not a fake reconstruction.
6.) Strasburg and the PA Railroad Museum. A great historical collection and give the kids a steam train ride too.
7.) Horseshoe curve. Historic location with modern railroading.
8.) Railtown 1897 or Ely Nevada for the ambience. Think standard gauge EBT.
9.) San Francisco cable cars. Historic and fun. The kids will love it.
10.) Cuba - Hershey Interurban, steam sugar cane lines, colonial cities, old train stations. Maybe we can go there some day soon.



a231pacific@aol.com

1: EBT
2: Strasburg/RRMoP
3: Steamtown NHS
4: Horseshoe Curve
5: Jim Thorpe
6: St. Nicholas Breaker
7: Juniata Shops, Altoona
8: RDG Co. Shops, Reading
9: Rockville Bridge
10:Reading Terminal

honorable mention:
RCT&HS Museum - Leesport
Port Clinton
30th St Station
WK&S
Johnstown
The "SandPatch"

mrwowak@yahoo.com

> Perodically, the travel section at the
> newspaper that I work for (Charlotte
> Observer) calls up and asks for a railroad
> piece. Our travel editor, John Bordsen,
> tells me that he gets more feedback from
> three pieces. 1. Charleston, S.C. 2.
> Elvis-related and 3. railroads (in fact,
> John's favorite joke is that if we could
> ever get Elvis on a train from Charlotte to
> Charleston.... nah!).

> So, I'm thinking that while things are slow
> during the holidays, I'll do a piece on the
> 10 best railway heritage places in the U.S.
> you shouldn't miss. The list will be
> national in scope as it usually gets picked
> up by the Knight-Ridder wire and run in many
> locations. I'd welcome suggestions from the
> board's participants. I'll make sure
> flimsies gets a copy when the piece runs...
> probably in the spring.

> Jim

Why has no one mentioned the Mount Washington Cog Railway? All steam continuously from 1869.


wrj494@aol.com

In my recollection the automobile ride from "Tie Siding" to the Ames monument on the actual old ROW of the UP has to give a person the real feeling of how difficult and desolate the way west wast for the UP. The fact that the monument is now "all by itself", is testimony to how railroads continue to try to improve their operation by reducing grades and curvature.

In the stillness of a winter's afternoon you can almost hear the whistles of trains long forgotten in the distance.

Surely a significate heritage site.

v-scarpitti@worldnet.att.net

Since it's for the travel section, I'm concentrating on regional attractions, especially if multiple attractions are close together.

1. Baltimore: B&O Museum + Bawlmer Streetcar Museum; also Camden and President St. Stations
2. Strasburg: RRMofPA and Strasburg R R
3. Sacramento: CSRM with Western Rwy Mus. nearby.
4. Scranton: Steamtown NHS and Electric City :-) on one campus and Anthracite Heritage Museum and Lackawanna Coal Mine together about two miles away.
5. Altoona-Cresson PA: Horseshoe Curve, Allegheny Portage RR NHS, Railroaders Memorial Museum and places you can watch trains in Cresson, Gallitzin and Altoona. EBT's not really that far away either.
6. Illinois Railway Museum
7. San Francisco: Cable Car Museum, MUNI Metro, F-line, Market St. Rwy. Niles Canyon for steam.
8. SW Colorado-Northern NM: D&SNG + C&TS
9. Denver area: Colorado RRM + Georgetown Loop
10. 30th Street Station Phila. SEPTA's museum is 2 stops away and 30th St's upper level lets you see the trains; there's one every few minutes and from platform C you can also see Amtrak coming and going.

Electric City Trolley Museum Association

And I have to put in aworld for a couple of things.

Electric Traction:

Seashore Trolley Museum, Shoreline Trolley Museum,
Connecticut Troley museum, the first three!
Illinois Railroad Museum for traction

Narrow Gauge and Short Line.
WW&F Museum and Sandy River RR Park in Maine.

Strasburg RR and RR Museum of PA
East Broadtop RR

Durango and Silverton
Colorado RR Museum

Sierra RR and 1897 State Park, Jamestown
Grand Canyon railroad

Off the top of my head!

Ted Miles

ted_miles@nps.gov