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Choo Choo Barn
The Choo Choo Barn is a train display in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States, consisting of over 150 hand-built animated figures and vehicles and 22 operating trains. History The Choo Choo Barn was established in 1945 by George Groff, in the basement of his family home on Franklin Street in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. Groff had just returned from World War II, and had bought a $12.50 Lionel train set as a Christmas present for his two-year-old son Gary. Within a few years, the collection had expanded to occupy a large part of the family basement. In the 1950s, the family opened their display to the public and local school groups during the Christmas holidays. In 1961, George and Florence Groff moved the display to a small township maintenance facility that became available along Route 741, just to the west of the recently reopened Strasburg Rail Road. The Choo Choo Barn opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1961, with over of detailed landscaping, six trains, and six animated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strasburg, Pennsylvania
Strasburg is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It developed as a linear village stretching about along the Great Conestoga Road, later known as the Strasburg Road.Susan M. Zacher, NRHP Nomination Form Strasburg/ref> The population was 3,132 at the 2020 census. The town was named after the French city of Strasbourg, the native home of an early settler. The town is often called "Train Town USA" because of the many railroad attractions in and around town, including the Strasburg Rail Road and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Much of the movie ''Witness'' was filmed on a farm nearby. Much of the borough was listed as a historic district by the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. History The Old Conestoga Road was in use by 1714, and by 1750 a tavern and some log houses were built near the current site of Strasburg. The community grew as regional trade with Philadelphia grew. By 1759, there were 32 taxable properties in the town, including about ten hot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rail Transport Modelling
Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced Scale (ratio), scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, rail tracks, tracks, Railway signal, signalling, Crane (machine), cranes, and landscapes including: countryside, roads, bridges, buildings, vehicles, harbors, urban landscape, model figures, lights, and features such as rivers, hills, tunnels, and canyons. The earliest model railways were the 'carpet railways' in the 1840s. The first documented model railway was the Railway of the Prince Imperial (French: Chemin de fer du Prince impérial) built in 1859 by emperor Napoleon III for his then 3-year-old son, also Napoleon, in the grounds of the Château de Saint-Cloud in Paris. It was powered by clockwork and ran in a figure-of-eight. Electric trains appeared around the start of the 20th century, but these were crude likenesses. M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pennsylvania Route 741
Pennsylvania Route 741 (PA 741) is a state highway that runs through western and southern Lancaster County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The western terminus is along Rohrerstown Road north of an intersection with Commercial Avenue near East Petersburg. The eastern terminus is at PA 41 in Gap. PA 741 heads south from East Petersburg and runs through the western suburbs of Lancaster. The route turns southeast and passes through Millersville before it turns east at New Danville. PA 741 forms a concurrency with U.S. Route 222 (US 222) between Willow Street and Lampeter before it continues east through farmland in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country that is home to several Amish families, passing through Strasburg before reaching Gap. The section of road between Willow Street and Lampeter was designated as part of US 230 in 1926 and concurrent with PA 72 in 1927, with US 222 replacing US 230 by 1928. In 1928, the road between Willow Street and Gap became part of PA 41. PA 7 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strasburg Rail Road
The Strasburg Rail Road is a heritage railroad and the oldest continuously operating standard-gauge railroad in the western hemisphere, as well as the oldest public utility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1832, the Strasburg Rail Road Company is today a heritage railroad offering excursion trains hauled by steam locomotives on of track in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, as well as providing contract railroad mechanical services, and freight service to area shippers. The railroad's headquarters are outside Strasburg, Pennsylvania. Strasburg has a total of 5 operational steam locomotives on its roster, as well as several others in various stages of restoration. As of 2022, Canadian National No. 89, Norfolk & Western No. 475 and Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal No. 15 (rebuilt as Thomas the Tank Engine) are all in active service. Canadian National No. 7312 (No. 31) is currently undergoing restoration while Great Western No. 90 is undergoing its FRA inspection an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and the Australian territory of Norfolk Island. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest and of the preceding year. (Similarly named harvest festival holidays occur throughout the world during autumn, including in Germany and Japan). Thanksgiving is celebrated on the Thanksgiving (Canada), second Monday of October in Canada and on the Thanksgiving (United States), fourth Thursday of November in the United States and around the same part of the year in other places. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a Secularity, secular holiday as well. History Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are common among most religions after harv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gift Shop
A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections and other souvenirs, intended to be kept by the buyer as a memento of their visit, or given to another as a gift. Gift shops are normally found in areas visited by many tourists. Hotels and motels in Canada and the United States often feature a gift shop near their entrance. Venues such as zoos, aquariums, national parks, theme parks, and museums have their own gift shops as well; in some cases these shops sell items of higher value than gift shops not associated with a venue, as well as trinkets. These stores are sometimes a source of financial support for educational institutions. Mainstream businesses There are many mainstream shop businesses that target gift-buyers as their primary customer base. These retailers can vary in size ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parking Lot
A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most countries where cars are the dominant mode of transportation, parking lots are a feature of every city and suburban area. Shopping malls, sports stadiums, megachurches and similar venues often have immense parking lots. (See also: multistorey car park) Parking lots tend to be sources of water pollution because of their extensive impervious surfaces, and because most have limited or no facilities to control runoff. Many areas today also require minimum landscaping in parking lots to provide shade and help mitigate the extent to which their paved surfaces contribute to heat islands. Many municipalities require minimum numbers of parking spaces for buildings such as stores (by floor area) and apartment complexes (by number of bedr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 552,984. Its county seat is Lancaster. Lancaster County comprises the Lancaster, Pennsylvania metropolitan statistical area. Lancaster County is a tourist destination with its Amish community a major attraction. Contrary to popular belief, the word "Dutch" in "Pennsylvania Dutch" is not a mistranslation, but rather a corruption of the Pennsylvania German endonym ''Deitsch'', which means "Pennsylvania Dutch / German" or "German". Ultimately, the terms Deitsch, Dutch, Diets, and Deutsch are all cognates of the Proto-Germanic word meaning "popular" or "of the people". The continued use of "Dutch" instead of "German" was strengthened by the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 19th century as a way of distin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Wonderland
Dutch Wonderland is a theme park just east of Lancaster, Pennsylvania in East Lampeter Township, appealing primarily to families with small children. The park's theme is a "Kingdom for Kids." The entrance to the park has a stone imitation castle façade, which was built by Earl Clark, a potato farmer, before he opened the park in 1963. The Clark family sold Dutch Wonderland in 2001 to Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. They also operate Wonderland Mini-Golf (Former Wonderland Cinema; Demolished in 2015), and Old Mill Stream Campground at the same location and the Gift Shop at Kitchen Kettle Village, in nearby Intercourse, Pennsylvania. On November 12, 2010, Hershey Entertainment announced that they sold Dutch Wonderland to Palace Entertainment. The park has 32 rides, plus a tropical-themed interactive water play area called ''Duke's Lagoon''. The park also has an extended season, open for "Happy Hauntings" and "Dutch Winter Wonderland" events for Halloween and Christmas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Model Railroads
Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, tracks, signalling, cranes, and landscapes including: countryside, roads, bridges, buildings, vehicles, harbors, urban landscape, model figures, lights, and features such as rivers, hills, tunnels, and canyons. The earliest model railways were the 'carpet railways' in the 1840s. The first documented model railway was the Railway of the Prince Imperial (French: Chemin de fer du Prince impérial) built in 1859 by emperor Napoleon III for his then 3-year-old son, also Napoleon, in the grounds of the Château de Saint-Cloud in Paris. It was powered by clockwork and ran in a figure-of-eight. Electric trains appeared around the start of the 20th century, but these were crude likenesses. Model trains today are more realistic, in addition to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tourist Attractions In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic (within the traveller's own country) or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments. Tourism numbers declined as a result of a strong economic slowdown (the late-2000s recession) between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, and in consequence of the outbreak of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, but slowly recovered until the COVID-19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
