Chartered in 1832, the Strasburg Rail Road Company is today a heritage railroad offering excursion trains hauled by steam locomotives on 4.02 mi (6.47 km) of track[1] in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, as well as providing contract railroad mechanical services, and freight service to area shippers.

[5] The Strasburg Rail Road is one of the few railroads in the U.S. sometimes using steam locomotives to haul revenue freight trains.

The nearby Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania occasionally uses Strasburg Rail Road tracks to connect to the Amtrak Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg Main Line junction in Paradise.

The line is used for excursion trains, which carry passengers on a 45-minute round-trip journey from East Strasburg to Leaman Place Junction through nearly 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) in southeastern Lancaster County.

The railroad's mechanical and car shops maintain and restore locomotives and rolling stock and a wide variety of public and private clients, including other railroads, steam locomotive operators, train museums, and other heavy industries.

[11] A charter was issued by the Pennsylvania Legislature with the signature of Governor George Wolf on June 9, 1832 to "incorporate the Strasburg rail road [sic]".

[14] In 1866, the Herrs were granted a charter to extend the Strasburg Rail Road to Quarryville; surveys were carried out, but the extension was eventually canceled because of an economic depression.

[17] By 1958, the railroad fell on hard times from the cumulative effect of years of declining freight business and infrequent runs, damage caused by Hurricane Hazel, and lack of approval for operation of the Plymouth locomotive by inspectors from the Interstate Commerce Commission.

[19] Learning of the potential abandonment, an effort to purchase and save the railroad was organized by railfans from Lancaster Henry K. Long and Donald E. L. Hallock.

[20] Tourist excursion service began on January 4, 1959, and the first steam locomotive arrived in June the following year.

[21] When the railroad returned to operation for tourism, freight business was still pursued but was diminished compared to the past.

Business from the Homsher feed mill ended in 1976, and one of the only sources of freight traffic was imported plastic pellets for a battery manufacturer in Lampeter.

Occasional carloads of lumber were also carried, but freight traffic as a whole came to a near standstill a few years into the 2000s; the plastic pellet business was lost to trucks.

[8] Since 2008, freight carloads have increased substantially, which resulted in the development of a new $1.5 million transloading facility funded by the railroad and matching grants.

[8] On February 12, 2023, the railroad inaugurated a six-track freight yard located off of Route U.S. 30, the Lincoln Highway.

It arrived on the property in June 1960 and was placed into service on September 1, 1960, pulling the railroad's first tourist train.

[27] In 2009, it was taken out of service to undergo an extensive Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 1,472-day inspection and overhaul,[27] which remains in progress.

89 would remain in this orientation for hauling tourist trains until late 1973 when it was turned around using the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania's, then recently installed, turntable across the street.

[38][39][40][41] The Strasburg Rail Road had considered acquiring other steam locomotives prior to settling on No.

[2] The locomotive was sold to the SRC by Keith Brigode from the Toledo, Lake Erie and Western Railway in March 1998 and rebuilt to resemble the character, Thomas the Tank Engine for the SRC's annual Day Out with Thomas events.

972 was acquired from Rail Tours Inc. of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania after the company could not afford the payments for mechanical repairs that Strasburg was performing on the locomotive at the time.

8618 originally operated for the New York Central Railroad until being acquired by the Strasburg Rail Road in 2009.

[2] It arrived in poor condition, painted in faded Santa Fe dark blue, and is currently undergoing restoration to operational status.

3 is a 15 in (381 mm) gauge miniature type steam locomotive that may have originally operated at Coney Island, New York, it was acquired by the Strasburg Rail Road in 2003 and has remained in active service ever since.

7002's was earlier that year in January right after filming a Prudential Insurance commercial in Harrisburg Train Station.

After a loan to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, it long sat dismantled pending long-term future restoration.

40 was rebuilt by shop forces from the Strasburg Rail Road, returning to service in June of 1991.

1-4 have each individually traveled to the Strasburg Rail Road shops for federally mandated rebuilds since 2010.

[70][71] C&O 614 was sold by Ross Rowland to RJD America, LLC in November 2024 with the goal to move the locomotive to the Strasburg Rail Road shops to undergo restoration to operating condition starting in early 2025.

The Strasburg Rail Road and its locomotives have appeared in a number of films and television series, including Hello, Dolly!, Wild Wild West, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, The Gilded Age, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, The Men Who Built America and I Heard the Bells.