Anyone have any recent experiences with the Red Caboose at Strasburg? A friend has asked about it, and I have a vague memory of having been told recently that the place isn't what it once was.

Any comments? Feel free to contact me back-channel...

eledbetter@rypn.org

Hi,

I stayed there this past Thanksgiving week (2003). It was my first time and did enjoy it. Several cabeeses (?) were being renovated and not much was happening since it was an off-season visit.

But, I would reccomend it.

DvV

> Anyone have any recent experiences with the
> Red Caboose at Strasburg? A friend has asked
> about it, and I have a vague memory of
> having been told recently that the place
> isn't what it once was.

> Any comments? Feel free to contact me
> back-channel...


douglasvanveelen@mindspring.com

It has been several years since I was there, but if the diner is still operating, the food (then) was good and with the right table, a great place to watch the Strasburg traffic run back and forth.


Fitz's Steam Railfan page
fitzrr@pioneer.net

Stayed there in about 1968 - 69 and was fine. Watched the Dean Martin show on the TV in the potbelly stove. Hope they didn't change much since except maybe to go to a color set.

dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

They were in the news recently because the PA Dept of health tested their water and found sewage so the place was shut down. They also had a suspicious fire in one of the cabooses. it has changed hands something like ten times in the last fifteen years and is getting a bit worser for the wear.

> Stayed there in about 1968 - 69 and was
> fine. Watched the Dean Martin show on the TV
> in the potbelly stove. Hope they didn't
> change much since except maybe to go to a
> color set.

> dave

> They were in the news recently because the
> PA Dept of health tested their water and
> found sewage so the place was shut down.

That was 2-3 years ago and they have it corrected. They are open again.

DvV


douglasvanveelen@mindspring.com

My newleywed wife and I took our honeymoon to Strasburg March 2002. We made reservations at the Red Caboose for three nights. I had always wanted to stay there (having been to Strasburg a few times), and she being a railfan as well thought it was a great idea too.

Well, we got there about 9:00 at night, and SURPRISE, no one there! No staff, no guests, no key, no note, no nothing. After half an hour of wandering around looking for someone and knocking on doors we gave up and starting looking for another place to stay. Fortunately we found a place in Lancaster. We left an irate note at the Red Caboose with her cell phone number on it.

Well, the next day they call her WORK NUMBER back home! Work called her sister who relayed it to her on her cell phone. Apparently they had shut down for renovations and "someone should have told us". Geeze, we had reservations, they had our number. We drive ten hours there and no room! They never did call us directly about it. Grrr.

Obviously a bad experience. My wife was very upset.

I had eaten in the restaraunt in the late 1980's and I recall it being OK then. Had visited the gift shop then and in the early 80's and recall it seemed be be rather mom and pop-ish then.

The East Broad Top Railroad Homepage
ebtrr@spikesys.com

> Anyone have any recent experiences with the
> Red Caboose at Strasburg? A friend has asked
> about it, and I have a vague memory of
> having been told recently that the place
> isn't what it once was.

I have heard some rather recent "horror stories" along the lines of what Chris Coleman reported and the closing because of the sewage/septic issues. Unfortunately, none are anything I can elevate above "hearsay", and any complaints might be obsolete after any recent reconstruction, renovations, or change of ownership. You might want to see what you discover on another forum such as TrainOrders--they're likely to give you a fresh perspective on the place, as they're full of young fans that might still consider the novelty of sleeping in a caboose ("Look--a TV in the potbelly stove!" "Yeah, so where's the computer outlet and DVD player?").


LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

> Had
> visited the gift shop then and in the early
> 80's and recall it seemed be be rather mom
> and pop-ish then.

It still is Mom and Pop-ish.

The fellow who checked me in at the counter at the Caboose asked where Dunwoody, GA was. As it turns out, his relative lives about 1.5 miles from me! Small world.

I liked the Strassburg RR hobby shop up on the second floor. I got my PRR style china there and always seem to find good books there. And I do not mind paying a bit more for it since I know it goes to keep the RR alive.

I was surprised when I saw the Cagney (?) 12-15" gauge train my last time up. Thought it is a great idea.

I just wish I'd been able to get there when they had the RRMPa's loaned PRR steamers in operation.

I wish the SRR had tours of Lemo Tower. I was lucky enough to be inside it once when Lemo was still functioning. I was 10-14 at the time and do not recall much. My uncle worked for PC at the time and got me in.

DvV


douglasvanveelen@mindspring.com

The Red Caboose Motel was a first class attraction during the time its founder Don Denlinger owned and operated it. I beleive he first opened it in 1970 and ran the place until he had to sell it a few years back due to some "unfortunate personal problems". He also owned and operated the lumber yard at Paradise, across from the SRC runaround (as well as all of those other "pre-fab building products" operations along Rt 30 between Paradise and Kinzers). Mr. Denlinger is very much a rail enthusiast and ran the motel as such. From what I've seen/heard, this isn't quite the case with the new owners. Still worth a look though.

BTW, IIRC the "sewage problem" was actually a water quality problem with the motel being cited for having high levels of nitrates in their well water (no doubt from good ol' Lancaster County "fertilzer" run-off from the local farm fields). They were closed down until they installed a water treatment system.

Regards,
Jim Robinson

I spent one night there and that was one too many.
The beds were (are?) suitable for someone well under 6 feet in height as my feet stuck out beyond the mattress.

There have been press releases from the Lancaster County district attorney about a previous owner who (in the Fall of 2002?) solicited and kept deposits during a period when he was shut down due to bad water quality. In case of any owner of any place, it can be better to use a credit card to pay for a deposit!

104577.651@compuserve.com

Sleeping in a conveyance that doesn't go anywhere? What's the point?

Yeah, I say the same thing about the Queen Mary!

nkloudon@hotmail.com