About the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust and The Mission
The Colebrookdale is a tourism, recreation, and education-based engine of economic development for southeastern Pennsylvania. The resurrection of our rail line—the oldest ironmaking corridor in North America—has been through a multi-county, multi-jurisdiction, public-private collaboration supported by multiple Commonwealth agencies, multiple Federal departments, Berks and Montgomery Counties, and hundreds of private foundations and private donors.
The unique product of this work is a scenic railway named the #2 heritage railroad in North America by USA Today, and featured by Martha Stewart Living, Country Living Magazine, and Wes Anderson’s Accidentally Wes Anderson Adventures. Forty thousand visitors from every state in the Union and many foreign nations come to Pennsylvania each year to experience what have been described as the most beautiful train cars in America, riding through the Secret Valley countryside that first established Pennsylvania’s place as an industrial superpower. With them comes over $12M of economic impact each year.
Their visitation also drives the good work we are doing within the Pennsylvania communities for whom the railroad is again a lifeline. The railroad’s operation and restoration provides a compelling context for the empowerment of at-risk people, traditionally underserved or disenfranchised people, and people with Autism Spectrum Disorder through education, skills-building, and employment opportunities. Our Department of Education-approved curriculum, Rails of Revolution: The Industrial, American, and Environmental Revolutions in the Secret Valley, is offered free-of-charge to Pennsylvania schoolchildren. It teaches about the dangers of over-consumption of natural resources, Pennsylvania’s rich heritage of industrial pioneering, and the amelioration of nature and man in the post-industrial age.
Our work to transform our communities has been recognized by the White House, the George H.W. Bush Foundation, the National Association of Counties, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Our pioneering “S.T.E.A.M.” program will provide science-technology-engineering-arts/humanities-mathematics educational opportunities, vocational skills training, and jobs to the populations we serve.
Check out this video from WVIA where our executive director shares some history, and more!
