Town · Strasburg, Lancaster County
Strasburg
A small town amid Amish farmland that is a magnet for train lovers, with a steam heritage railroad, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and a toy train museum on its doorstep.
Strasburg is a small Lancaster County town of brick and stone houses along a long main street, set in the middle of Amish farmland. Horse-drawn buggies share the roads, and from spring to fall the fields around town are a patchwork of corn, tobacco and hay, with white farmhouses and big barns at the end of every lane.
It is also the railroad town of Lancaster County. The Strasburg Rail Road runs steam trains out through the farms, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania across the road holds a great collection of locomotives, and the National Toy Train Museum has layouts that fascinate children and grown-ups alike. The Hans Herr House, a stone farmhouse built by Mennonite settlers in 1719, is a short drive west.
Make a day of it
In and around Strasburg
Heritage railroad · Strasburg Township, Lancaster County
Strasburg Rail Road
Chartered in 1832, this short line still pulls passengers behind steam locomotives through Amish farmland, in open cars, a dining car or a plush first-class parlor car.
Railroad museum · Strasburg Township, Lancaster County
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
More than 100 historic locomotives and railcars, many gleaming under one vast roof, trace the story of railroading in Pennsylvania, across the road from a working steam railroad.
Toy train museum · Paradise Township, Lancaster County
National Toy Train Museum
The Train Collectors Association's museum, packed with toy trains from the 1800s to today and big operating layouts where push buttons set tiny scenes in motion.
Photo: Klaus Nahr from Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Historic house · West Lampeter Township, Lancaster County
Hans Herr House
Built by Mennonite settlers in 1719 and thought to be the oldest building in Lancaster County, a stout stone farmhouse with exhibits on early Mennonite life and a re-created Native longhouse.
Also nearby
Nearby
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Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
More than 100 historic locomotives and railcars, many gleaming under one vast roof, trace the story of railroading in Pennsylvania, across the road from a working steam railroad.
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Strasburg Rail Road
Chartered in 1832, this short line still pulls passengers behind steam locomotives through Amish farmland, in open cars, a dining car or a plush first-class parlor car.
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National Toy Train Museum
The Train Collectors Association's museum, packed with toy trains from the 1800s to today and big operating layouts where push buttons set tiny scenes in motion.
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Amish Farm and House
A Lancaster County farm presented as an Amish homestead, with guided tours of an 1805 farmhouse, a one-room schoolhouse, barnyard animals, and bus tours of the surrounding countryside.
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Dutch Wonderland
Entered through a storybook castle, an amusement park built for young children, with gentle rides, a family-sized wooden coaster and splash areas for hot days.
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Hans Herr House
Built by Mennonite settlers in 1719 and thought to be the oldest building in Lancaster County, a stout stone farmhouse with exhibits on early Mennonite life and a re-created Native longhouse.