Boy Scout trip to Steamtown

I am a Scout leader here in New York, and I wanted to take my Troop to Steamtown in the fall. Has anyone ever done this with their Scouts before? My Troop is aged 12-18. Anyone ever use the Scout camps nearby?

-otto-

Check with your Council Executive or other head cheese there and see what inter council arrangements might be made. OR go ahead and contact the Council offices for Scranton yourself. How many have the Railroad Merit Badge?

Otto are you going for the railroad badge for your troops? Because Seashore also has a BSA railroad badge program ran their too. FYI.

hey wow i didn't think that I would see boy scouts in here but low and behold i do :D

If anyone wants to trade badges get ahold of me as i am involved with scouting up here in the frozen north.

Hi Henry! Well, I volunteer for Council, so that part is taken care of. I can handle the touring permits and actually getting 150 Scouts there... I was just curious if Steamtown had any programs suitable for Boy Scouts, or if I was "on my own" (heck, I can give my own tour). My idea was to bring the Scouts for a weekend and have them tour Steamtown and ride the Electric City Trolley. Now, I just need to find a campsite nearby...

-otto-

[somewhat off topic]
Otto, there are some other points of interest in Scranton as well. I did an enjoyable early morning walk around downtown about a year ago after an overnight stopover between here and "Joisey".

There are a number of statues with explanatory plaques and other historical markers in and around the square a few blocks from the Mall at Steamtown.

There is also the coal mine tour; I haven't done it personally but I've heard it's good.
[/somewhat off topic]

Don't forget the DL&W station/hotel either. I would second your idea to do your own tour of Steamtown. There are plenty of self-explanatory displays but they are more aimed at the "general public" than those of us who are a bit more knowledgable about the industry. Nothing wrong with that per se, but I think you could provide more context.

The coal mine tour is a good idea... haven't done that one before. If anything I Was hoping to split my 150 Scouts into two groups- one could tour the trolley museum and ride while the other group tours Steamtown... then have them switch in the afternoon. These kids range in age from 11-17, so it has to be something that is engaging. I'm going out on a limb here!

-otto-

Hi, Otto:

You might want to split them in 3 groups, since I don't think the trolley can hold 75+ people. Of course, that also stretches out the amount of time you need to spend in the yard, and teens get bored pretty quickly.

Another idea is to call the local Scout council for ideas. 570-207-1227. Perhaps some can hike to the iron furnaces, and even railfan from the platform as the trolley full of the other guys passes by. The Iron Furnace park is about a 5-block hike from the Steamtown ticket booth, depending on the route you take.

I was imagining I would split these guys into groups of 25 so that no one area is overrun with Scouts! So 25 guys can ride the trolley, 25 guys can tour Steamtown, 25 guys can tour the trolley museum, and 25 guys can cool their heels. Then I just have to rotate them through the park about four times.

-otto-

Just as a point of information - I don't think even the most diehard trolley fan can find anything to do in the trolley "museum" for more than 5 minutes. It is more of a gift shop/ticket booth. There is a lot to see at Steamtown proper if they have an engine fired up. If you can - plan to arrive at opening time to watch them bring it out, water and coal it, etc...

The coal mine is definitely worth it as well.

Otto, I would suggest that you have some fun and rock the boat a little. I heard from a recent Railcamp participant that when there was a need for power in the yard they would crank up the diesel because it was faster and easier for them to use. Why don't you ask them to bring out that nice EMD GP, open up all the carbody doors, and have one of the rangers do an "interpretive" presentation and give the scouts an explanation of all the machinery. It is a very well kept secret, but they do have a number of people on the staff who are capable of doing such a presentation.

MX

Otto I know for a fact that Seashore runs a BSA program for their railroad badges. Any questions call Seashore M-F 9-5 207-967-2712 they will put you in touch with the persons yunning the program. It is a verry popular we get overbooked. i think we are hosting a Jamboree there this year too,.

Thanks for letting me know, but Maine is a little too far for my Scouts. Our district is suburban New York- only two hours from Steamtown. It's a six hour drive to Maine- hard to make a weekend out of that without taking days off for travel.

Steamtown does tours of the shop several times a day.
I'll bet they'll do one for the scouts !
One of the "Big Boys" is stuffed & mounted outside.
You also want to time it when they are bringing or putting away engines via the round table.

I've done the mine tour, it's got a lot of stuff to see & you ride a mine car down into it.

You also have the Red Barrons A baseball team ... the trolley will bring you there.

The Elect City has a few things to see, including a short movie, but it's a small place. There are a few cars on static disply & a few more outside.

I'll also bet there is a scout camp site near by ... have also been with a group that got permission to use West Point's test area & slept inside a battleship in R.I., i.e. not just scout sites might be avaliable.

[
You also have the Red Barrons A baseball team ... the trolley will bring you there.

The Red Barons are now the Yankees, and in the fall, there are no games, since the International league season ends at the end of August.

I'll also bet there is a scout camp site near by ... have also been with a group that got permission to use West Point's test area & slept inside a battleship in R.I., i.e. not just scout sites might be avaliable.[/quote]

At least 3 camps that I know of, each over 1/2 hour away. Private camps are closer. Once again, it comes down to there only being so many hours in a day, and so many things to do as a large group.