Historic Note: Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania & Turbotrain Speed Record
Click on each image for a closer look!
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Derek Boles, TRHA’s historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major railway oriented events that happened on that day of the year. Two of today’s items are as follows:
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“April 22, 1975: . The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania opens in Strasburg PA, long a mecca for railfans with its operating steam-powered common carrier railroad. The museum was housed in the first building containing comprehensive facilities designed and built specifically for a train museum, rather than converted from an existing structure. The building was doubled in size in 1995 and its design influenced the new exhibit building at the Canadian Railway Museum near Montreal, now known as the Angus Pavilion at Exporail. The Railway Museum of Pennsytlvania, Exporail and the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento are now widely regarded as the finest rail museums in North America.
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April 22, 1976: . CN’s Turbo Train sets a Canadian land speed record of 140.6 miles per hour between miles 104 and 84 of the Kingston Subdivision (roughly between Prescott and Cornwall). The event was staged to promote CN’s new passenger subsidiary, which they called VIA. All crossings were flagged and all switches were spiked along the route. (Thanks to Jason Shron for this item)”
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See our earlier three part TRHA News posting on the Pennsylvania Museum by clicking here (part 1) and here (part 2) and here (part 3) and on Exporail by clicking here.
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Find out why Jason Shron is so knowledgeable about Turbo Trains by clicking here.
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If you wish to read these daily postings from Derek, simply join the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List by clicking here.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Images from the Pennsylvania Railway Museum’s media kit and from a Via Turbo Train poster