Scranton: Railroad History and Culture

Scranton can be explored through two distinct railroad themes: the history of steam railroads at Steamtown and the regional history of electric railroads at the Electric City Trolley Museum. The Scranton Cultural Center also offers a program featuring historic architecture and workshops. If you’re looking for a hotel in Scranton, these highlights can help you choose a destination based on your interests. The offerings range from collections and historic buildings to a 30-minute train ride, a trolley excursion with named route points, and hands-on workshops.

Steam Railroads and Steamtown

In the heart of Scranton, Steamtown National Historic Site preserves, interprets, and protects the history of steam railroads in America. This includes the park’s historic railroad grounds and collections. The Roundhouse combines architectural history with an ongoing function: it has thirteen stalls, was built in 1902, and expanded in 1937. It is still used as an operational roundhouse to display and maintain historic locomotives. Its construction, expansion, and present-day use offer three distinct points in time for the same building.

The Steamtown rail experience includes 30-minute rides through the park’s historic railroad grounds. The duration refers to the ride, making it a different measure from the history of the entire site or the Roundhouse’s continued use to this day. Steamtown therefore focuses both on the historic grounds and their functions, and on a rail experience with a defined duration.

Electric Railroads and the Trolley Excursion

The Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton offers a different perspective on railroad history. Its collection represents the history of electric railroads in eastern Pennsylvania, from the Philadelphia region to Northeastern Pennsylvania. Unlike Steamtown’s focus on steam railroads in America, the museum centers on electric railroads and an explicitly regional scope.

The Electric City Trolley Excursion follows a section of the former Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad line, the Laurel Line. It runs parallel to Roaring Brook, passes the Historic Iron Furnaces, and goes through the 4,747-foot Crown Avenue Tunnel. The museum collection and excursion route offer different emphases: the collection presents a regional subject, while the route follows a specific section of former railroad line with named points along the way.

Architecture, Workshops, and a View of the Gorge

The Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple’s “School & Group Experience” program is open to all ages. It includes a tour of the center’s historic architecture and a choice of two hands-on workshops, with instruction in theater, dance, drawing, mixed media, music, or magic. The format thus combines an architecture tour with hands-on activities. The two workshop topics are selected from the six listed areas, making the program different from a train ride or a collection presentation.

The David Wenzel Treehouse in Nay Aug Park opened on Friday, May 25, 2007, and overlooks the gorge from a height of 150 feet. While the rail experiences emphasize history, route, or ride duration, here the gorge and the elevated vantage point shape the experience. The options described therefore offer different highlights: railroad history, architecture and workshops, and a view from the treehouse.

Discover more destinations: Dickson City, Clarks Summit, Old Forge, Dunmore, Moosic.

Back to the regional travel overview: Lackawanna.