Nothing?

We're also visiting Pennsylvania and maybe West Virginia in the course of our trip, so if anyone has any ideas of sights to see, that would be greatly appreciated.

For instance; what are the best/largest model railroad stores on the east coast?

Welcome

Lots of stuff taking place in Michigan too bad your not cominghere . On the East Coast I suggest going north if you dont mind traveling. Jump a train for New Hampshire and check out the Conway Scenic Railway also Clarkes Trading Post isnt two far from Conway. Both attractions have working Steam locomotives. http://www.clarkstradingpost.com/ and

http://www.conwayscenic.com/

My brother lives in New Hampshire and I did a lot of railfanning when I was out visiting. I'm not sure but you might be able to take the train all the way from Washington to Conway. Sorry to tell ya, The USA has a LONG way to go to get close to UK style transportation.Good news is that the East Coast seems to have pretty good connectivity to most points of interest.

In Virginia check ot Museum of Transportation http://vmt.org/

If your ever in Michigan let me know. Might be able to set up operating session for you. I know of several options.

Rob Teed

Been really busy

Marketing

Nice new banner Rich.

Thanks!

I will un-hijack this post now but just to reply.  Thanks Alan!  I have generous friends who are willing to trade skills.  

I can't speak much for NY

I can't speak much for NY and Washington DC; but as mentioned if you want to go more north, there are some interesting things.

Besides Conway scenic railroad as noted, and the Mt. Washington Cog Railway in NH, there is also a small museum in Franklin, NH.  If you go up there, Portland ME is not far away, and they have a nice small 2 foot guage museum.

In Vermont, excursion trains are run quite regularly (especially during that time of year) by Green Mountain Railways. Here's a link to their schedule. If the foliage is peaking, it can be very beautiful in that part of the world, but normally it's on the downhill side by early October.

In Massachusetts, there is a great train shop called Maine Trains. It's worth a stop if you're in the area, but I wouldn't drive from NY to go just there. There is also a trolley museum near Springfield.

As no one else has said it, I'd also look  to going to Pennsylvania, especially just for Steam Town in Scranton (not that far from NYC)

Hope this helps!

Layouts in Central NY

Hello!

There are many great layouts in the Central NY (Syracuse) area where I live. In September, the North Eastern Region of the NMRA will be hosting their convention, and there are about 30-40 layouts on the list. Their website is www.cnynmra.org. There are pictures of layouts there, however, they have not been updated recently. There is one I visit nearly every week for operating sessions. There are also several clubs in the area with nice layouts. If you want more info, email me through MRH, and I can see if any layout owners might be open to the idea. My layout is still in the early stages of construction (mostly benchwork with about 10 feet of track). Hope you find many good layouts to see and operate.

Andrew

Weighing In from DC

Sorry it took me so long to get back to this . . . we have several good opportunities for railfanning modern CSX around DC - as it gets closer PM me through this forum and I can give you detailed directions depending on where you are staying.  There is a trolley/interurban museum just north of DC in Maryland that is fun, and the B. & O. museum in Baltimore would be a great afternoon for looking at old eastern RR prototypes.  We also have an informal group of N scale modelers that have layout scattered all over the DMV area, and again I can get something set up for you as the time gets closer.

For riding trains - There are all sorts of trips possible from Washington to NYC on Amtrak, and both the Cass Scenic Railway and the Western Maryland Scenic Railway offer fall excursion trips on the weekends.

Model railroad shopping in the National Capitol region is tougher - there are several shops within an hour drive on the Virginia side of DC - I haven't been to any and so can't comment on them.  In Maryland the best place is M.B. Kleins, which is on the northwest corner of Baltimore about an hour from DC by car.

In and around New York

An advance welcome to the Big Apple....My former home.

While in New York you can visit the NYC Transit Museum...http://www.mta.info/mta/museum/  You can visit Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station. While at Penn Station you can take an Amtrak train over the world famous Hell Gate Bridge. The subway systems to the outer boroughs are good for entertainment and in some cases the subways turn to elevated lines once outside of Manhattan.  Metro North commuter trains come and go to GCT and Long Island RR trains come and go to Penn Station. If you are arriving in NYC by plane to JFK Airport you can take the shuttle train from your airline terminal to the LIRR Jamaica Station and then take an LIRR train into Penn Station in Manhattan which is located at 7th Avenue and 34th Street beneath Madison Square Garden and across the street from the Pennyslvania Hotel whose phone number is still Pennsylvania 6-5000. .A free trip on the Staten Island Ferry will give you a grand view of the skyline. 

A short distance away is Northlandz in Flemington New Jersey  http://www.northlandz.com a very large model train layout. Within a short distance of Northlandz is the New Hope and Ivy Railroad which runs tourist steam trains.

Enjoy your stay

John R

Then there's CT...

In southwestern Connecticut (about an hour and a half from NYC) is the Danbury Railway Museum.  By Oct they'll have a decent amount of units in the yard. http://www.danbury.org/drm/  You can actually take Metro North out of Grand Central up the New Haven Line to the Danbury station which is also home to the museum.

Aside from that, there's CSX's Cedar Hill yard in North Haven, CT (south-central) that's great for railfanning.  There are actually two yards in the area split by a river - Providence & Worcester shares the "east" yard which is a little more difficult to get to.  Last time I was at the "west" yard (accessible via a store parking lot) I got to watch a brand-new GenSet shove some ortners around the yard!  There is almost always activity there during the weekdays and at least a handful of big power stored right next to the parking lot on weekends.

-John

Things to do in NYC

It may not be related but you can also visit the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space museum see an aircraft carrier, a destroyer and a missile submarine among other things.

Irv

Danbury Railway Museum

How far is Danbury Museum from Groton, CT ? My son is station there, I would like to see the museum when I go visit him.

Roadside America

Haven't been here in a long time, but Roadside America in Shartlesville, Pa has a giant indoor village with model trains running throughout. 

http://www.roadsideamericainc.com/

Connecticut Train Museums

How far is Danbury Museum from Groton, CT ? My son is station there, I would like to see the museum when I go visit him.

It's not that far as the whole state is rather small. In the general area also is the Naugatuck Railroad Museum which operates old New Haven passenger equipment and a really nice steam train and ferry excursion in or very near Deep River CT which should be near Groton as well.

Great ideas!

Thanks for all the ideas everyone! The B&O museum is a must, and we're also wondering if we should head out to Cass Scenic railway and Horseshoe curve.

I've also contacted a couple of you personally to see if we could get into a model railroad basement or two

Groton, Connecticut

There is a great museum at the submarine base including USS Nautilus.

Irv

We have a number of very nice layouts in the DC area

including some that are nationally known. When you have the time/dates/locale pinned down a little better PM me and I'll see if I can make some specific suggestions.

I should add there's a show in Lancaster PA in October, and the NMRA MER convention is also in October in Suffolk Va., (in the southeast corner of the state) so October is a busy model railroad month.

Marty

Pennsylvania

Mr Bridger-

Sorry it took me so long to add my thoughts but since you are traveling between NYC and DC I think it's worth suggesting a few places a little farther off the Northeast Corridor that in my opinion are better than what you will find close into the major metro areas:

​Strasburg, PA

Strasburg Railroad (Strasburg, PA) - Live steam operation without the silly (at least in my opinion) train robberies, damsels in distress, etc.  A great little railroad and hey it's living, breathing live, steam, right?  

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (Strasburg, PA) - A great collection of locomotives, rolling stock, etc. from early steam to the modern era.  And the best part it's literally​ right across the street from the Strasburg Railroad.  No exaggeration, you can park at one and walk across the street to the other.

Red Caboose Motel (Strasburg, PA) - A motel made up of converted cabeese and just down the road from the steam and the museums.  Not a bad way to finish off  or start your train day if you ask me!

Scranton, PA

Steamtown (Scranton, PA) - About 2 hours northwest of NYC this is (I think) the largest railroad musuem outside of Sacramento.  I've been a couple of times and I've found the collection of locomotives and rolling stock impressive but the hard part is despite the name there may not be any live steam running on a given day so it's a gamble in that respect.  

Anyways, I hope all this helps.  If you can only make one stop I'd suggest Strasburg only because it makes the 1-2 hour detour off the main road worth it.  Between the steam and the museum you can get a full day's activity.

Good luck with your plans!

EDIT:  Added Red Caboose Link

Nationally known?

Nationally known layouts? That sounds very interesting indeed. Thank you all for your kind help. I hope we'll get to meet some of you in October. I've sent both Richard and now Marty a private message.

A few months back there was a

A few months back there was a similar query about Connecticut... see note at end of paragraph. I suggested a few things to see from New Haven to New York. look here: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/7284

rfbranch  has mentioned my suggestions for Pennsylvania... From NYCity, it would be a car trip... out Interstate 80 from NYC to Scranton...  South via PA turnpike to Lancaster... then on to Baltimore or DC via interstate again.  Consider a stop  in Baltimore... the B&O museum is their old Roundhouse... a collection that's quite extensive - covers a large time period... the PA RR museum does, too.   

DC has Union station  just off of Capitol Hill. in 1953 the PRR ran a train into the station without the assistance of brakes (no.. it was Not deliberate)  The resulting Hole in the floor was covered  in time for Eisenhower's 1953 inauguration. The GG1 was cut apart and removed later.  

The  Norfolk Southern has the old Norfolk&Western collection (steam included... probably Not working) somewhere south of DC... it was being re-organized last time I was nearby...

The B&O museum is a short distance (= long walk) from the inner harbor... and lots of history there... this IS the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812... and Ft. McHenry was a focal point of our nation's defense.  

BY ALL MEANS...  visit the Amtrak website BEFORE coming here... they have special rates for international visitors... NOT available once you are here! 

In Union, NJ, is the Model Railroad Club ... [Tel:   908-964-9724]   one of the nations oldest... on US Highway 22 - about 25 miles west of NYC... They have regular hours... and have been kind enough to allow me and sons to visit when our schedule conflicted with visitors' hours.... Call ahead, I'm confident they'll let you know what would work.

Elsewhere, here in NJ, the Northeast corridor carries the Acela -  one of our favorite railfanning spots is the Jersey Avenue station... just about 2 miles south of New Brunswick, NJ....   Speeds here a just shy of the 125 local high speed.  the station platform is for local commuter trains... the Acelas run on the center 2 of 4 tracks. 

I'll stop in here to see what else has been suggested.  Best of luck... hope you have enough time!

Enough time

We have ten days there, so we'll try to make the most it. The B&O museum is a "must" so that one is already on our list

Not too long

Our trip is coming up in a month or so. Anyone up for a layout visit or knows someone who would be willing to show us their layout?

Here are our preliminary plans. We have room for much more

4th Oct. : In and around Washington. Smithsonian etc.

5th Oct : Rental car. Going north west. Point of Rocks, Harpers Ferry

6th Oct : Great Cacapon. Magnolia cutoff?

7th Oct : Hagertown? Gettysburg?  Cumberland? Altoona/Horse Shoe Curve?

8th Oct : http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/

9th Oct : Baltimore. B&O Museum

10th : Trainworld / Trainland. Hotel in or near NY.

11th : Interpid museum

12th : New York. High Line etc.

Things to do in NYC

I think you've most of the good train watching spots in NYC. I would invite you see my layout but there isn't alot to see yet. You'ld see more if you could visit Brooklyn N-Trak. Unfortunately I won't be available to show it to you as I have previous commitments the first two weeks in October.

Irv

MTA Museum

Great looking itinerary. Since you are in lower Manhattan for the High Line consider using subway to the Trainworld McDonald Ave location in Brooklyn, an elevated line runs right past the front of the store. Since you are on the subway, parlay this into a trip to the NYC subway Museum which is in Brooklyn also.

Have fun

John R