05-23-2009, 10:42 PM
Ok since last week I have finally visited No 9 Mine and museum. I can give both insight to the main contenders now:
Steamtown - Excellent trip all around, I must say it is something worth doing over again. Spending 4 hours there was still not enough, I took a long walking tour by one of the guides and he brought the group back into the shops for an awesome look behind the scenes, definitely not something to pass up, especially if you're an out of towner and don't have anything like that around you anymore. Their collection of Steam trains is like.. well.. they never died off from the diesel era, the majority of the Steamers are being rebuilt though or on a display. There is a lot to see here.
Some key interests:
- Railroad history Display, with some memorabilia, steam parts for actual locomotives, full scale diesel engine, early era tools/equipment, how stuff worked
- The group tour, including the shops where they fix/repair/restore locos and cars
- The UP Big Boy sitting outside (unrestored) that thing is huge!!!
No. 9 Mine - The tour was great, had a lively guide and sweet 1600ft trolley ride into the mountain, it took around 45min and explained the details about coal mining back in the ole days. After the tour you were able to check out the museum. It probably took longer looking at everything in there than the tour did, there's a lot of artifacts/documents that were either donated or on loan.
All and all I would say taking a day trip to see either of the two I would pick Steamtown, there is so much more to see there than no 9 mine BUT I never took the train excursion, after I went to no 9 mine I went over to Jim Thorpe and they had a 4-6-2 stop by from another town and took off, I was thrilled. I asked about the excursion and it would last around an hour and a half, it is a forward hike through the Lehigh Gorge and driven backward to the station. (front what they told me)
I will have a thread up on the trip with some pics of no 9 mine soon
Steamtown - Excellent trip all around, I must say it is something worth doing over again. Spending 4 hours there was still not enough, I took a long walking tour by one of the guides and he brought the group back into the shops for an awesome look behind the scenes, definitely not something to pass up, especially if you're an out of towner and don't have anything like that around you anymore. Their collection of Steam trains is like.. well.. they never died off from the diesel era, the majority of the Steamers are being rebuilt though or on a display. There is a lot to see here.
Some key interests:
- Railroad history Display, with some memorabilia, steam parts for actual locomotives, full scale diesel engine, early era tools/equipment, how stuff worked
- The group tour, including the shops where they fix/repair/restore locos and cars
- The UP Big Boy sitting outside (unrestored) that thing is huge!!!
No. 9 Mine - The tour was great, had a lively guide and sweet 1600ft trolley ride into the mountain, it took around 45min and explained the details about coal mining back in the ole days. After the tour you were able to check out the museum. It probably took longer looking at everything in there than the tour did, there's a lot of artifacts/documents that were either donated or on loan.
All and all I would say taking a day trip to see either of the two I would pick Steamtown, there is so much more to see there than no 9 mine BUT I never took the train excursion, after I went to no 9 mine I went over to Jim Thorpe and they had a 4-6-2 stop by from another town and took off, I was thrilled. I asked about the excursion and it would last around an hour and a half, it is a forward hike through the Lehigh Gorge and driven backward to the station. (front what they told me)
I will have a thread up on the trip with some pics of no 9 mine soon
Tom
Model Conrail
PM me to get a hold of me.
Model Conrail
PM me to get a hold of me.