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Friday, September 30, 2016

Take a Ride on a Steam Engine Train at Williams Grove Railroad

Williams Grove Railroad in Pennsylvania
The Williams Grove Railroad is part of the Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association located near the towns of Mechanicsburg & Dillsburg in Pennsylvania. The association was founded in 1959 to preserve and operate historic steam powered equipment, such as steam engine pulled trains. Over time, that has expanded into vintage steam powered farming equipment too.
Williams Grove Railroad in Pennsylvania
They offer passenger train rides at their location from May through October at scheduled times and during special events. You do have to pay a fee for a train ride, but it's extremely reasonable. I believe we paid $4.00 per person on the day that we went. Their hours of operation varies and if there is bad weather, rides will be canceled.
Williams Grove Railroad in Pennsylvania
We visited back on September 4th, 2016 during their annual Fall show and had a really great time. There were a lot of people there for the event, but the crowds moved along quickly. We were there on a Sunday, so the "extra" crowds were from their Sunday Flea Market which is open year-round from dawn to 2PM EST. There is FREE admission into the Flea Market to buy items but if you want to sell items, you'll have to pay a vendor's fee.
Williams Grove Railroad in Pennsylvania
On the day that we visited they had a schedule of events:

* Tractor Pulling - which started at 12:00 noon.

* Parade of Steam Engines & Tractors started at 6PM.

* Borderline (band) started playing at 7PM.
Williams Grove Railroad in Pennsylvania
During the event you could pay a fee and take a ride on the steam engine pulled passenger train which was really cool. I had never been on any type of train before, so I really enjoyed this and so did my grandchildren. Once they open up the train station for rides...they continue running them for hours or until the crowds die down. We didn't have to wait too long for our train ride and while we waited, we walked around and checked out some other activities.
Williams Grove Railroad in Pennsylvania
They had rows upon rows of old vintage farm tractors on display. Many of these were the old steam-powered tractors from yesteryear and then you did see some of the more "modern" types from the 60's through the 80's on display too. My grandson was super excited to see some John Deere tractors on display which are his favorites!
Williams Grove Railroad in Pennsylvania
It was really interesting to walk around and see all of the old farming equipment on display. Since I don't know much about that subject, it would of been nice if there had been some signage up or a "guide" that you could purchase to tell you more about the items you were looking at. With that said, I did run into a guy who was pretty well-versed on these things and he shared a little bit of his knowledge with us.
Williams Grove Railroad in Pennsylvania
During the event you'll find several food vendors set up, so you can grab something to eat and drink. When we were there, they had at least a dozen of them selling all kinds of different things. We saw hot dogs, cheeseburgers, cheesesteak sandwiches, soft pretzels, ice cream, cold beverages, hot drinks, pizza and all sorts of other things.
Williams Grove Railroad in Pennsylvania
This is a great family-friendly activity in south central Pennsylvania that's affordable too! You can go and walk around for FREE and if you want to take a train ride or grab something to eat, you'll have to pay extra for that. Overall, we had a great time and will definitely be visiting the Williams Grove Railroad again! 

Note: You can click on each photo in this travel feature & it will open up in a new window and in an enlarged size. This will allow you to see the smaller details close up.

1 comment:

jopb said...

This does sound like a great lace to visit to look at lll the old stem powered vehicles. I agree with you that it would be nice if there were some way of getting more information or a guide to explain these old machines.