Today’s route was from Scranton, birthplace of President Biden, to Sayre, PA just a few miles south of the New York state line but, before leaving, I wanted to make a couple of stops.<\/p>\n
The first was to enjoy a walk around the trail that circumnavigates Lake Scranton. This is a reservoir owned by the local water authority which only allows pedestrians and bans pets so all of the many users I saw were adult walkers and joggers.<\/p>\n
![\"Lake](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Lake-Scranton-1.jpg\")
![\"Lake](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Lake-Scranton-2.jpg\")
The trail is mainly in the forest that surrounds the reservoir but there are a few spots with clear views of the lake.<\/p>\n
My main stop of the day was at the Steamtown National Historic Site which preserves the downtown rail yards, turntable and Roundhouse of the old Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railway. This railway used to connect New York City to the Great Lakes and to the anthracite producing region of Pennsylvania providing New Yorkers with almost everything they needed. In addition to the facilities the National Park Service also preserves and maintains many historic locomotives and rolling stock.<\/p>\n
![\"Last](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Last-Sony-Photo.jpg\")
This steam engine was the first photo I took when I arrived but I did not note the locomotive details as this is the last photo my Sony camera will probably ever take. Immediately after the lens froze and I have not managed to turn it on or get any signs of life from it since. I will do some research tonight and hope to purchase a replacement tomorrow. I had to use my $85 phone for the rest of today’s pictures and hated every second of it.<\/p>\n
![\"Round](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Round-House-and-turntable.jpg\")
The site is based in the “Roundhouse”, a circular building almost completely surrounding a turntable and containing dozens of service bays for locomotives and carriages.\u00a0 Parts of the Roundhouse are still used to maintain stock and the rest has been refurbished to provide the visitor center, a theater and educational exhibits. The site also runs full day rail excursions on Saturdays but, since they were enclosed and required mask wearing, I was not eager to ride.<\/p>\n
![\"Cutaway](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Cutaway-steam-locomotive.jpg\")
There were many educational exhibits, such as this cut-away locomotive explaining how steam locos work, but I was more fascinated by the displays showing how the early railways operated safely before signals and telegraphs were deployed.<\/p>\n
![\"Bridge](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Bridge-Safety-Testing.jpg\")
Building bridges for these new monsters obviously came at a risk.<\/p>\n
![\"World](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/World-Largest-Steam-Locomotive.jpg\")
They have one of the world’s largest and most powerful steam locomotives, the Union Pacific “Big Boy” and its tender on display.<\/p>\n
After a couple of fascinating hours I headed to Sayre on the “Grand Army of the Republic” highway which was used by Union troops in the Civil War but offered no particularly spectacular scenery.<\/p>\n
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Saturday, July 16 2022 View today’s road video and route map Today’s route was from Scranton, birthplace of President Biden, to Sayre, PA just a few miles south of the New York state line but, before leaving, I wanted to make a couple of stops. The first was to enjoy a walk around the trail … Continue reading Celebrating the Golden Age of Rail<\/span>