Trip to hershey from Massachusetts looking for railfan ideas

In a few weeks i will be heading to hershey park for a few days, i am hoping to get some railfanning in also. I was planning on stopping at steamtown on the way down, but other than that i have no idea what to do. I can't make to horsecurve as it is a little to far(i'm gonna have little kids in my car) so i hoping to maybe do some railfaning in the eastern part of the state. Anything good around hershey?

Any ideas would be helpful as i have never been to PA.

Thanks

You will be in the area to take a short hop over the the Railroad Museum of PA, it will be about an hour (+-) from the Hershey area. If you have children the Museum has lots of things to interest children. Across the street is Strasburg which is great for small children. This is worth it with or without the children.

The Hburg area has Amtrak and the Enola yards, rockville bridge not much to see if the kids are with you. Outside the park the NS line to Allentown has a lot of activity time dependent, this is the old Reading Company cross line. Good train watching but no real schedule.

Lots of "other " stuff in the area but with children in tow may not be worth the effort

I've never been there, but I'm looking at it on Google Earth right now, it looks like the NS line should be fairly visible from many areas of the park, also the monorail crosses over the tracks twice.

Worst case scenario, if you're desperate, look at a roller coaster, it's not really railroading, but it is steel wheels on steel rails.

some interesting railroad stuff in Jim Thorpe PA.
including the http://www.mauchchunkmuseum.com/
and a collection of old locomotives


north eastern PA is also the home of the Delaware and Lackawanna rr , who operate a fabulous fleet of elderly ALco diesels in daily revenue service. http://www.gvtrail.com/dl.php
http://www.gvtrail.com/images/DLmap.jpg
They are a fairly railfan friendly company, perhaps you could call and ask where and when you might be able to see some action.

Eliphaz wrote:some interesting railroad stuff in Jim Thorpe PA.
including the http://www.mauchchunkmuseum.com/
and a collection of old locomotives


north eastern PA is also the home of the Delaware and Lackawanna rr , who operate a fabulous fleet of elderly ALco diesels in daily revenue service. http://www.gvtrail.com/dl.php
http://www.gvtrail.com/images/DLmap.jpg
They are a fairly railfan friendly company, perhaps you could call and ask where and when you might be able to see some action.

Since the Reading and Northern has taken over as the operator in Jim Thorpe now, most of the pictured equipment no longer resides at Jim Thorpe. The CNJ "F" units have been moved to Steamtown in Scranton and are in the process of being repainted into a Lackawanna Freight scheme (see the DL&W forum for more details). The Reading & Northern occasionally runs steam with #425 in the gorge from Jim Thorpe, other times it is a diesel loco. Check their website for exact details.

JP

I've been to Hershey a few times and have enjoyed railfanning in the area. The NS Harrisburg Line goes through Hershey and as previously mentioned has no schedule, so it could be quiet for a while and then you can have several trains in a short time span. There is a newer style signal bridge so you can get a sense of westbound trains approaching. There's also a local that works the Hershey plant as well. NS 5619

Here is a pair of BNSF trains bringing a westbound intermodal train through Hershey:
Westbound train

Marysville, on the western side of the Rockville Bridge is a spot I like. Aside from the trains, you're at the bank of the Susquehanna River, and my kids always find something along the shore line to strike their interest.
NS 2736 on the bridge

If you will be in the area on a Saturday at all, Harris Tower, in Harrisburg, is open Saturday afternoons. The historical society that owns it gives tours of the tower. If time allows, I also recommend Strasburg as a place to stop and see. Enjoy Hershey. In my opinion, it's a great family-oriented park with something for everyone to do. Just seems that it's overcast when I have gone.... Which is good while you're in the park.

A previous poster mentioned the Railroad Museum of PA and The Strasburg RR, about an hour from Hershey. Strasburg is about an hour south of Hershey, on the southeast side of Lancaster. On the way there about 10 minutes from Strasburg, a store called The Strasburg Railroad Shop (I hope) has an exellent selection of railroad books for sale, some Morning Sun books going back to the 1990's in original shrink wrap. They also have an unwrapped copy of each title for you to peruse while the little ones are playing in the Thomas play area. The kids will also enjoy seeing the local Amish population too. There is an amusement park called Dutch Wonderland on your way to Strasburg that caters to the under 8 year old set.

RLS


PS I have no affiliation with this store, but i have bought several books from there....

From the Zoo area in hershey park you can watch the NS mainline. Plenty of action. Enola is good too. Thats just north of harrisburg. Last time I went to hershey I came back through Scranton. I went out through Strasburg which is enjoyable for all in the family.

Thanks for the info. i will try and upload a few photos

My son and I did a similiar trip in 2005 on one of our off-road/road-trip ventures. We went from Boston through PA and Hershey to Gettysburgh and back. As always, we were looking for railway sightings along the way. I'll give you a brief list of some of the outstanding ones that we saw, not repeating what has already been mentioned.
In PA, an attraction not to be missed is the "No. 9 Coal Mine", where you ride inside the heart of the mine on an electrically driven tram. It was a great stop and one that I am very glad that we did not miss. (There are others in the area. I'm told [and believe] that the No. 9 is the best.) In Scranton, if you don't stay, at least have dinner in the former concourse to the old Scranton E.L. Station at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel. You will be dining among the old columns of a beautifully and tastefully refurbished station with tremendous railroad history. It is easily about the most gorgeous and meaningful hotel that I have ever stayed at. It's also a short walk to Steamtown. On the way back from Gettysburgh, the Enola area's Norfolk Southern's yard in PA was alive with all sorts of equipment. I actually had wished later on that we had stopped and taken some photos as there were many good ones to be had. Anyway, have a great time. Drive carefully.