STRASBURG, Pa. — The Rocket, the 185-year-old former Reading Co. steam engine which had long been displayed at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, made its debut Friday at its new home, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. About 60 people were on hand for a ribbon-cutting of the new display, a ceremony featuring Patrick Morrison, the museum’s executive director; Eric Levin, the Conrail Shared Assets Organization vice president who arranged for Conrail to donate the engine to the museum; and museum staff, Friends of the Railroad Museum volunteers, and local elected officials.
The Strasburg museum had long sought to acquire the 0-2-2-0, built in 1838, which had been at the Franklin Institute for 90 years. That facility is undergoing a multimillion-dollar makeover; the space that had previously been devoted to the Rocket will allow display of other items from the Institute’s thousands of artifacts [see “185-year-old ‘Rocket’ moving …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 15, 2023].
