Day Out with Thomas... Strasburg Railroad ?

[GraysMom]

Just an FYI for those going to the Strasburg area, there is a little county stoe/ice cream shop at the main intersection in town which has very rich ice cream! There are also quite a few places to eat out on route 30 because of the outlets. Hope everyone has fun!

GraysMom

 

[CheapMom]

I almost forgot I wanted to take my DS3- He loves trains and Thomas.
http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/thomas.aspx

 

[monorailsilver]

We do it in CT. My kids love it.

We live about 10 min from the steam train so we take the first train & then the kids ride the rides, take pictures, do the crafts & then we are home around 11 or 12.

 

[teamagic]

Yes, I totally agree with the others about getting there early. Strasburg is a very small town and not really set up for that much traffic at one time. One thing that can help when you are leaving Strasburg is to have a map of the area (you can pick up one at the Lancaster visitor center). If you are lucky and can park in the Strasburg Train parking lot, the map is a big help because when you leave you can go towards Philadelphia and pick up a side road that will take you back up to Route 30. You will avoid all the traffic in Strasburg! We went last fall and thought that we would spend about 3-4 hours there. We ended up spending about 5+ hours. There is alot of tents and thing to do. My DS was in heaven the rest of the day(not to mention being dead tired)! Enjoy your day.

 

[Kycha]

If you have a little more time, you should make a trip to Cherry Crest Farm. "Home of the Amazing Maize Maze". You can ride the railroad one way, get off at the farm. Enjoy all the wonderful activities, corn maze, petting zoo, hayride, pumpkin chucking, pick your own pumpkin and many more. Then you get back on the train, for the ride back to Strasburg. This is just a fun way to spend a day with the family.
http://www.cherrycrestfarm.com/index.asp

 

[kfrey68]

We have done this the past two years when they are there in June.
Definitely get there early especially if you have an early ticket. The lot a the railroad is very small and the first year we almost missed the train and this year we got there when it first opened and found a great spot and had plenty of time to look around. If your tickets are late in the day I would still allow extra time but you should be able to find parking at the railroad. We usually have one of the early rides and when we are leaving (around 1-2 pm) the lot hasa number of spots from those who came for an early ride and then left.
If you have the combo ticket there are other rides like cranky and the pumper cars you can do but the lines are long.
Have fun!!!

 

[UMTerp]

A word of warning about the Red Caboose Motel in Strasburg. When we spent two (very painful) nights there a few years ago they only had an extremely lumpy double/full size bed and four hard and undersized bunks in each caboose. It is a novelty but not too good for sleeping (for adults anyway).

The train museums are great fun!

UMTerp

 

[Kycha]

A word of warning about the Red Caboose Motel in Strasburg. When we spent two (very painful) nights there a few years ago they only had an extremely lumpy double/full size bed and four hard and undersized bunks in each caboose. It is a novelty but not too good for sleeping (for adults anyway).

The train museums are great fun!

UMTerp

The Red Caboose Motel has a very bad reputation in these parts. They were poorly managed and poorly maintained. They were even closed down by the state at one time due to nitrate levels found in the water system. This was back in 2002, I think. Apparently, they have new management, since last April. I hope this means things are improving. But, even so, I don't think I would take a chance staying there. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Desnik]

Thanks for posting this!! I really want to take DS. Hopefully we can go Fri.!!! Any good places to eat nearby? We have been to the Strasburg railroad a bunch of times, but we have never eaten there!

We also love that icecream parlor in the town and visiting the toy train place that has the trains set up and you walk through the display. It's really cool.

 

[Annette_VA]

We did our first "Day Out with Thomas" earlier this year when he came to Calera, AL. I was disappoints to learn that it's not a real engine. It's basically just a boxcar shaped and painted like Thomas. You ride a real excursion train, and Thomas just get towed behind the noraml excursion train. (He's also smaller in person that what I expected.)

The one at Strasburg IS a real steam engine. There are Thomases that travel around that are not truly working engines and have to be pushed by another train, but the one at Straburg really is a working steam engine.



We've been to Day out with Thomas three times. It is a lot of fun. We always get the first train on Sunday morning & it works out great. We're able to park in the lot right next to the station and we do our train rides and tour the tents before it starts getting really busy.

 

[jmpellet]

We live in MA and have seen Thomas near us. Always fun. We have vacationed in the Lancaster area for several years and always visit Strasburg. One hint for Thomas lovers -- the movie Thomas and the Magic Railway with Alec Bladwin (not completed animated) -- parts of it were actually filmed at Strasburg, you see it when Lily is on the train. Also Strasburg is where they build the Thomas' and you might even see one being built in the shed.

We have stayed twice at Willow Valley Resort and we really like their indoor pool and buffet. This year we stayed in Lititz at the Holiday Inn Express. It's a really nice little town with a great park in the center.