Steamtown National Historic Site

Great museum we decided to visit spur of the moment. No admission but we did pay $6 a person for a short ride into town and back. So many beautiful engines and train cars from various companies. The staff are so polite and everyone we spoke to was eager to share their knowledge. I was very impressed with cleanliness of the place and you can see that this museum is well cared for. We did not take the short walk to the trolley museum located across from the train yard but we are planning of visiting again in the near future.

Even if you're in Scranton for the Office, make sure you go here! I found out they had one of the 8 remaining Big Boy trains and had to stop by. It's out in the parking lot and is beautifully restored. The museum is free. Staff are all friendly. There's easily a half day of stuff to see, but you could easily spend a full day here. Lots of beautiful trains and very thorough and informative walk through exhibits. I ran out of time and didn't have a chance to walk on the walkway above the rail yard, or go to the electric trolley museum. You will not be disappointed!

This is another wow, wow, wow moment. Had no idea stopping to check Scanton PA out was going to yield this awesome find. This place was loaded with all kinds of history. Obviously you have to be a person interested in history to appreciate this kind of site. But how could you not be? This may be the best preserved site in America dedicated to the railroad, and steam engine. I'm so glad that this is somehow funded for our citizens to be able to enjoy. It's so cool to see the kids be in awe of these trains. I know growing up, I was interested in trains as well.

We visited early morning on a Saturday in late June 2025. We got there just a few minutes before opening since we were staying at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel. Amazing hotel to stay in if you're in town for the Steamtown National Historic Site. It was a converted old train station. There is a giant parking lot and you can kind of look around at the trains in the parking lot and in front of the visitor center while you wait for them to open. The ticket and information center is right at the front when you walk in. We picked up maps, junior ranger books and purchased our train tickets for the 10:30AM ride/tour. Sadly the Locomotive Shop Tour started at 11AM and there wasn't another one until 2PM. The train tour returned at 11:15AM so we wouldn't make it in time and we had a tightly packed itinerary for the day. Next we walked to the left where the Bookstore museum shop is. It's in adjacent building to the Oil House. It's actually a fairly nice sized store with a bunch of neat stuff. This is also where the NPS Passport Cancellation Stamps are for this site. They are right behind the counter and there are 2 stamps. We dropped all the stuff off at the car and went into the first building (Visitor Center). We went through it pretty quite because we noticed that they had a handcar Experience from 10-11AM and a line was starting to form. Never tried a handcar before and it was much harder to get started than you think. Momentum is your friend though. The ranger let all 5 of us get on. 2 on each handle and one opposite of him on the cart. You go out maybe 50 feet, stop and then turn around to go back. It was a lot of fun. By the time we were done we went through the Technology museum to the other side where the train ride/tour was. We had to go fast to get in line since they are not assigned seats and first come first serve. We wanted to make sure we got seats next to each other. We were the second group in line. We decided to sit in the way back. There are 2 passenger cars next to each other and they are not the same. They do have rangers/staff on both trains as you're going. They were very strict about staying in your seat while the train was moving and there were a few kids on our train that the rangers/staff kept having to remind. Conductor will come by and punch your ticket as well. It's pretty cool because the hole punch is the shape of a train. The train doesn't go too far before it stops and turns around to head back to the station. it was a fun experience and for $6 per person it wasn't too bad. I think 5 and under were free. It was also a pretty full train. Not sure if it was sold out or what. After we got off the train at the same place we got on the train, we continued round around the circle into the Roundhouse. Here there were a ton of parked trains with signs and you walk on like a high up platform to see them all. You can't really get super close to them unfortunately. The locomotive shop is also attached to this section of the building and where you would go if you had purchased that particular tour option. We continued lastly into the History Museum portion and looked around a bit. This was the portion we walked through the fastest honestly. Kids weren't too interested in the history. They liked the technology and seeing the trains more. The last building we came across was the theater but it was closed for renovations or something during our visit. So we were not able to watch the park film. I'm sure if we were able to watch the film, the kids would've been more interested in the history aspect. Kids finished their Junior Ranger Booklets and we turned them back in at the front Ticket and Information Center and they got their badges. We ran into museum shop to get them stamped and then we were off to our next stop for the day. Overall it was a great experience and we packed a lot in for just under 2 hrs. Since we had to run through everything so quickly we would 100% come back in the future. Take more time in the museums and also do the other tour. Maybe the theater will be reopened.

Fantastic display of railroad history. The round house facility is well designed and accessible. Many antique locomotives on display in original and restored condition. Working restoration and maintenance shop along with other various paraphernalia. Trolley museum is a nice complement to the site. Property is attached to the steam town mall.

Free for everyone. Hot in a few areas of the museum (went during summer), but great to experience Scranton’s industrial might. We were allowed to walk on the tracks and see all the old and really old trains. The size of some was incredible. Bring water as most of it is outdoors and everything indoors is without AC.

If you love trains it doesn't get any better than this. Locomotive after locomotive. A huge roundhouse full of locomotive engines. You can even go for a train ride through Scranton. The museum contains countless interesting and unique artifacts that add insight, depth and stories to the experience.

I really enjoy visiting this tree museum. It was very interesting. I found out lots about trains that I didn’t know. The exhibits are fantastic. I’m very well detailed and there’s lots of stuff on site. The bonus was also the fact that this was a free of charge entrance to this museum. Historical photos and videos are amazing.