• An engineer inspects the running gear of a steam locomotive at Steamtown NHS

    Steamtown

    National Historic Site Pennsylvania

Your Dollars at Work

Steamtown National Historic Site is being cared for today and for future generations by the National Park Service. This dual objective-use today and tomorrow-comes at a price. Protecting our natural and cultural heritage while ensuring that visitors have a safe, enjoyable, and educational experience is expensive. As the number of visitors to parks continues to climb due to the popularity of our national treasures, government funding available for necessities such as track and building repairs, rolling stock, visitor protection and other services has not kept pace with demand.

In 2004, to address these needs, Congress signed the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) which allows the U.S. Department of the Interior to implement an interagency Fee Program in three of its agencies - the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The program also includes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. The program directs funds collected from park visitors towards the maintenance of the facilities they are utilizing.

Steamtown National Historic Site is a participant in the Interagency Recreational Fee Program. The program authorizes Steamtown National Historic Site to keep 100% of the fees collected. These funds have been and will continue to be used for maintenance, repair projects, public service programs, signage, and natural and historical resource preservation, as listed below. For fiscal years 2011 and 2012, the total value of these projects is $346,672.

Approved On-Going Projects

Repair HO Scale Model Railroad in Technology Museum - FY11 -12

Completed Projects

Refinish Interior Mattes Street Tower - FY11

Repaint Exterior of 3 the Office Storage Building, Maintenance of Way Building and Gas House - FY11

Replace Museum Complex PA System - FY11

Future Projects

Design and Modify Existing Handrails on Turntable - FY12

Replace Main Water Line & Components throughout Park - FY12

 
 
 
 
 

Did You Know?

Two steam locomotives pulling passenger trains pass by the loading platform at Steamtown.

There are about 1,950 steam locomotives in the United States.  About 250 of these are capable of running.  At any given time, fewer than 100 can operate.  Steamtown National Historic Site has three steam locomotives which can run. More...