The Pittsburgh Independent Hi-Railers’ York Week Adventures
By Andrew Hummell, TCA #08-62302 Winter 2026 e*Train
(An abridged version of this article has previously appeared in Clem’s Primer)
For several years now, members of our modular railroad club have been making the journey to York for the full York Week to visit the non-TCA meets and the TCA Purple Hall Pre-Show, and afterwards, we looked for other train-related activities or places to visit within an easy driving distance from York (well, what we consider to be easy driving distance). These have included train shops, hobby shops, museums, tourist railroads, and club open houses. This list/guide represents years of exploring the area surrounding York and will hopefully be of use to others in making the most out of their York visit and perhaps even extending it to become a full vacation.
Some of these may be listed in Clem’s Primer, and the Primer should always be consulted for events like open houses and other special activities, and websites, Google, and Facebook should be consulted for days and hours of operation for shops, museums, and tourist railroads (and any special York Week offers). Proper planning will make these mini road trips more enjoyable.
Trips are grouped by geographic areas with some commentary. Remember to check days and hours of operation, as many of these places are closed on certain days of the week.
York Week Wednesday Grand Tour
This is an easy day trip for a York Week Wednesday after the meets and Pre=Show. In this trip, we start at White Rose Hobbies, just outside of York. They set up at York, so they may not have a lot of O gauge in-store, but they do have a lot of hobby supplies and a lot of other items that may be of interest. From there we head to Toy Trains Unlimited in Hanover for their open house (detailed in the non-TCA Train Activities section of Clem’s Primer,), and from there on to Iron Horse Trains inside the Yesteryear Antique Center. Iron Horse also sets up at York, but they still have a good inventory at their store area, and the antique center itself often has other vendors selling train-related items, books, and toys and other items that can be re-purposed for a layout. Up to this point, the total driving time is around 45 minutes. From the antique center, we then head to Red Lion to attend the Red Lion Train Station Model Railroaders open house. Red Lion is about an hour drive from the antique center, so depending on the amount of time spent at the previous stops, there may be some time to kill before the open house starts; fortunately, Red Lion is an interesting town to explore, and there are plenty of places to get dinner or have a few beverages. And if you finish up at Red Lion early enough, you can then drive about a half hour to attend the Lower Susquehanna Valley Railroad Club open house.
White Rose Hobbies
https://www.whiterosehobbies.com
4401 W Market St, York, PA 17408
Toy Trains Unlimited (Closed Mondays & Tuesdays)
(717) 637-4717
38 York Street, Hanover, PA 17331
NOTE: See Clem’s Primer for open house details
Iron Horse Trains (Inside Yesteryear Antique Center)
441 Pine Street, Hanover, PA 17331
Red Lion Train Station Model Railroaders’ Open House
73 N. Main Street, Red Lion, PA 17356
NOTE: See Clem’s Primer for open house details
Lower Susquehanna Valley Railroad Club Open House
21 N 2nd St, Columbia, PA, United States, 17512
NOTE: See Clem’s Primer for open house details
Strasburg Area
Next up is Strasburg (about 1 hour from York). We don’t think all of these attractions can be completed in one trip (we visited them over several trips), so planning is essential. Most of these attractions speak for themselves and are clustered together. I did want to include Barry’s Car Barn in Intercourse, PA (15 minutes from Strasburg), as most train people also like classic cars and motorcycles (Barry’s collection is incredible), and there are several vintage train sets on display there as well. As a bonus, if going on Wednesday, we make a point of stopping by the Lower Susquehanna Valley Railroad Club‘s open house on the way back to York, and if early enough, it is only about a half hour from there to the Red Lion Train Station Model Railroaders‘ open house. There are also a couple of antique stores in Strasburg that often have toy trains and real railroad memorabilia.
The National Toy Train Museum
300 Paradise Ln, Ronks, PA 17572
Choo Choo Barn
226 Gap Rd, Strasburg, PA 17579
Strasburg Train Shop
226 Gap Rd, Strasburg, PA 17579
NOTE: This shop carries almost the entire Arttista figure line
Strasburg Railroad
https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/
301 Gap Road, Ronks, PA 17572
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
300 Gap Rd, Strasburg, PA 17579
Strasburg Antique Market
http://www.strasburgantiquemarket.com/
207 Georgetown Road, Strasburg, PA 17579
The Old Mill Antique Store
http://www.oldmillantiquestore.com/
215 Georgetown Road, Strasburg, PA 17579
Barry’s Car Barn (15 minutes from Strasburg) (closed Sundays & Mondays)
3504 Old Philadelphia Pike, Intercourse, PA 17534
Lower Susquehanna Valley Railroad Club Open House
21 N 2nd St, Columbia, PA, United States, 17512
NOTE: See Clem’s Primer for open house details
Red Lion Train Station Model Railroaders’ Open House
73 N. Main Street, Red Lion, PA 17356
NOTE: See Clem’s Primer for open house details
Gettysburg Area
Gettysburg is another destination that is only about an hour from York. There are two train stores there as well as the Lincoln Train Museum (planning is essential here, as the museum has very short hours), and a tourist train. The town itself also has a lot of nice shops and antique stores to explore, as well as all the historical sites. In addition, there are two other train shops close enough to Gettysburg to combine with a Gettysburg trip. Regarding the train stores, Tommy Gilbert’s does not have a lot of O gauge, but they do have a lot of modeling supplies, tools, books, and other items of interest, and when it comes to Carver’s, don’t let the look of the building from the front fool you — it looks small, but this store is packed with all sorts of trains, vintage to modern (mostly O gauge), accessories, toys, and tons of other stuff of interest to train fans. Plus, along the way to Gettysburg along Route 30 is the New Oxford Train Station, which has a bobber caboose and a passenger or baggage car. It is a museum and a model railroad club, but they are only open on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month, and more often during the Christmas season.
New Oxford Train Station
206 Lincoln Way W, New Oxford, PA 17350
Tommy Gilbert’s Hobby Shop (Closed Tuesdays)
https://www.gilbertshobbies.net/
346 E Water St, Gettysburg, PA 17325
Carver’s Toy Trains (Mon-Sat 9 AM-5 PM, Sun 10:30 AM-5 PM)
(717) 334-6937
305 Buford Ave, Gettysburg, PA 17325
Lincoln Train Museum
425 Steinwehr Ave, Gettysburg, PA 17325
Gettysburg Railway
106 N. Washington Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325
East Main Trains
https://www.eastmaintrains.com
6 E Main St, Thurmont, Maryland 21788
Mainline Hobby
15066 Buchanan Trl E, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214
Lebanon – Harrisburg Area
The primary destination for this trip is Draude’s Derailment (1.5 hours from York) in Lebanon, PA. This store is big and packed with lots of trains, accessories, tools, toys and hobby supplies of all kinds. And just about a block away is a candy shop that you may want to visit if you have a sweet tooth (Wertz Candies). We have it on good authority that they make some of the best caramel popcorn around. The secondary destination is The Station in New Cumberland, PA. This shop is located in an old train station that was moved to its current location (be sure to talk to the owner for the full history and check out the memorabilia on display). This trip also offers the opportunity to explore Hershey, PA in between, and the Harrisburg area has a lot of opportunities for railfanning.
Draude’s Derailment (Closed Wednesdays & Sundays)
744 Cumberland St, Lebanon, PA 17042
Wertz Candies
718 Cumberland St, Lebanon, PA 17042
The Station
https://www.visitcumberlandvalley.com/listing/the-station/3202
213 9th Street, New Cumberland, PA 17070
Baltimore, MD – New Freedom, PA
Another easy drive (about 1.5 hours) from York is to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. After the museum, a 40-minute drive can take you to the Toy Exchange in Mt. Airy, MD. This shop has some trains, modern and vintage, but is even more famous for its awesome selection of vintage toys (some of which can be repurposed for layouts). In the same plaza, and a couple of storefronts away from the Toy Exchange, is the Twin Arch Tavern, which has excellent food and would be a good dinner destination on this trip. In the same general direction, between York and Baltimore, is the Northern Central Railway of York in New Freedom, PA.
B&O Railroad Museum (10 AM-4 PM)
901 W Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21223
The Toy Exchange (Mon–Sat 10 AM–7 PM, Sun 12 PM–5 PM)
https://www.frederick.com/the_toy_exchange-sp-5087
1001 Twin Arch Road, Mt. Airy, MD 21771
Twin Arch Tavern
1001 Twin Arch Road, Mt. Airy, MD 21771
Northern Central Railway of York
117 N. Front Street, New Freedom, PA 17349
Long Day Trip – Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train
The Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train (about 1 hr 45 minutes from York) is an opportunity to both ride a mine car into a coal mine and then a steam train from the mine to see more mining history. For the brave explorers, just about 10 minutes away is the near-ghost-town of Centralia, PA, where a coal mine fire has been burning underground since 1962. And for the beer enthusiasts, America’s oldest brewery, the D.G. Yuengling & Son Brewing Company in Pottsville, PA, is just a little over half an hour away.
Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train
1900 Oak Street, Ashland, PA. 17921
D.G. Yuengling & Son Brewing Company
https://www.yuengling.com/americas-oldest-brewery-pottsville-pa/
420 Mahantongo St, Pottsville, PA 17901
Long Day Trip – Nicholas Smith Trains & Hennings Trains
For those who don’t mind longer drives, here are two great train shops, both of which are about 2 hours from York, and only 45 minutes from each other: Nicholas Smith Trains and Henning’s Trains. Both are set up at York, but cannot take their whole inventories with them, so a visit to their shops can be very productive. Nicholas Smith is a two-story shop with trains on the second floor and other hobbies, plus some more train stuff, on the first floor. Henning’s Trains is an old-school train shop that has been around since 1939 and has a little bit of everything, and they are also a source for repair parts that might be hard to find anywhere else (one of us got some electronics boards there that he had nearly given up on ever finding).
Nicholas Smith Trains (Closed Sundays)
https://www.nicholassmithtrains.com
2343 West Chester Pike, Broomall, PA 19008
NOTE: This shop carries almost the entire Arttista figure line
Henning’s Trains (Closed Sundays & Mondays)
128 S Line St, Lansdale, PA 19446
Very Long Day Trip – The Shempp Model Train Collection at the Thomas T Taber Museum
This is one we have yet to visit, but it is on our “to-do” list. It is about 2.5 hours from York.
Thomas T. Taber Museum
https://tabermuseum.org/explore-museum/shempp-model-train-collection
858 West Fourth Street, Williamsport, PA 17701
Very Long Day Trip – Altoona, PA Area
The Altoona area is about 3 hours from York and has plenty to keep train fans busy, including the famous Horseshoe Curve, Railroaders Memorial Museum, Gallitzin Tunnels, and Everett Railroad. Plus, there are plenty of places to watch trains, and you can go see the turntable at the end of the Norfolk Southern Juniata Shops complex.
Horseshoe Curve & Railroaders Memorial Museum
Horseshoe Curve: 2400 Veterans Memorial Hwy, Altoona, PA 16601
Museum: 1200 9th Ave, Altoona, PA 16602
Norfolk Southern Juniata Shops Turntable
North 6th Street, Altoona, PA (use 600 N 4th Ave, Altoona, PA 16601 for navigation apps)
Gallitzin Tunnels
411 Convent Street, Gallitzin, PA 16641
Everett Railroad
244 Pullman Dr, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648
