web1_Breakdown.jpg

Cabinet’s fourth annual Susquehanna Breakdown music festival coming back to Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton

Tree pick-up in Edwardsville

<p>SCRANTON &#8212;Eight-year-old friends Emma Pace and Maria Nogan, both of Scranton, rushed through the history museum at Steamtown National Historic Site Monday, giggling as they scampered from statue to statue of old-time railroad passengers, a conductor, even a hobo.</p><p>&#8220;I love it!&#8221; Maria said.</p><p>Emma&#8217;s dad, Steven Pace, who grew up hearing the whistle of passing trains in 1970s Scranton, said he&#8217;s grateful Steamtown is around to help children learn the history of railroading.</p><p>He also was happy Monday to take advantage of free admission to the site. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was the first of 16 days in 2016 when the National Park Service will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding by offering free admission to more than 2,000 national forests, wildlife refuges, historic sites and parks, including such famous national parks as Grand Canyon in Arizona, Yosemite in California and Yellowstone in Wyoming.</p><p>The remaining days are April 16-24, National Parks Week; Aug. 24-28, National Park Service Birthday Weekend; Sept. 24, National Public Lands Day; and Nov. 11, Veterans Day.</p><p>While Steamtown officials usually see 20 to 30 visitors on a winter weekday, Monday&#8217;s fee-free policy helped attract 285 visitors, including a few dozen train buffs, mostly grown-ups, who followed Park Ranger Bill McCarthy on a tour of the locomotive shop where they marveled at vintage steam engines and talked trivia.</p><p>Why did trains carry sand? To use it for traction when conditions were slippery.</p><p>How many people used to work in the shop? During its 1940s heyday, 3,000.</p><p>Yes, it&#8217;s true, McCarthy confirmed, the contact patch where a train&#8217;s wheel actually touches the surface of a rail is only as wide as a coin in your pocket. That&#8217;s one reason rail travel is so efficient.</p><p>While the adults soaked up the information on the ranger-led tour, younger visitors found hands-on ways to learn.</p><p>Seven-year-old Blake Bohn, of Swoyersville, and his friend Ayden Hannigan, of Kingston, examined an old-time dining car and the many slots built to hold envelopes in a mail car. Other children sifted coal and pulled a rope to ring a locomotive&#8217;s bell.</p><p>In the &#8220;Find Your Park&#8221; exhibit at the Visitors Center, Tracy Bazil, of Archbald, showed her sons, 5-year-old Drew and 2-year-old Colby, a map of the United States.</p><p>&#8220;We went on a big loop; it was great,&#8221; Bazil said, reminiscing about a long-ago trip that included several national parks. &#8220;We did a lot of the Badlands,&#8221; she said, tracing her finger westward through South Dakota.</p><p>Lauren Moran, 12, of Scranton, and her sister, Cait, 17, who visited Steamtown with their father, Bill, on Monday, said they&#8217;d love a trip like that. &#8220;Nature is so important,&#8221; Cait said, adding with a flash of indignation, &#8220;and we&#8217;re squandering it.&#8221;</p><p>The more people who visit national parks, the better, ranger McCarthy said, because more people will appreciate their beauty and history and try to help preserve them.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012216steamtown1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Maria Nogan and Emma Pace, both 8, admire statues of people you would have been seen on and near trains long ago as they walk through the history museum at the Steamtown National Historic Site on Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012216steamtown1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Maria Nogan and Emma Pace, both 8, admire statues of people you would have been seen on and near trains long ago as they walk through the history museum at the Steamtown National Historic Site on Monday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012216steamtown2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bob Bohn, of Swoyersville, his 7-year-old son, Blake, and Blake&#8217;s friend, Ayden Hannigan, inspect a train that was used to deliver mail at the Steamtown National Histroric Site. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012216steamtown2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Bob Bohn, of Swoyersville, his 7-year-old son, Blake, and Blake&#8217;s friend, Ayden Hannigan, inspect a train that was used to deliver mail at the Steamtown National Histroric Site. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012216steamtown3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mason Bell, 13, sifts coal pieces at the Steamtown National Historic Site Monday, one of 16 days of free admission scheduled this year at the site to celebrate the National Park Service&#8217;s 100th birthday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012216steamtown3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Mason Bell, 13, sifts coal pieces at the Steamtown National Historic Site Monday, one of 16 days of free admission scheduled this year at the site to celebrate the National Park Service&#8217;s 100th birthday. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012216steamtown4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ryan Getts carries his 1 year-old son, Daniel, as his 4-year-old son, Ryan, looks around inside a train at the Steamtown National Historic Site. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012216steamtown4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Ryan Getts carries his 1 year-old son, Daniel, as his 4-year-old son, Ryan, looks around inside a train at the Steamtown National Historic Site. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012216steamtown5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jack Kondrat, 7, rings the bell on one of the engines at the Steamtown roundhouse. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012216steamtown5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Jack Kondrat, 7, rings the bell on one of the engines at the Steamtown roundhouse. </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> Steamtown National Historic Site, corner Lackawanna Avenue and Cliff Street, downtown Scranton</p><p><strong>When:</strong> Winter hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily</p><p><strong>Admission:</strong> $7 for adults; free to children 15 and younger who accompany an adult</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

web1_TTL012216steamtown5.jpg

Visitors enjoy Steamtown on Martin Luther King Day, first of several free admission days planned for 2016