Founded in 1832, the Strasburg Rail Road is one of Lancaster County's most popular tourist attractions – and recognized as one of America's most significant examples of early 20th-century railroading.
Currently offering tourist steam train rides and attractions in Strasburg, PA, Strasburg Rail Road faced the unique challenge of accurately triggering automated spiel and BGM playback, both on the trains and in the station as trains approached and departed. They were also seeking a system that offered the flexibility to support additional entertainment offerings and could be maintained and programmed, as needed, by their personnel. For help solving this, Strasburg Rail Road contacted Forward Thinking Designs, based in Orlando, FL.
Forward Thinking Designs, known for their innovative solutions, accepted this challenge and designed a system upgrade that utilized multiple QSC® Q-SYS™ Core 8 Flex audio, video and control processors, GPS receivers and an LTE cellular access point. The GPS receiver on each car tracks the location and sends trigger commands to the local Q-SYS Core using Forward Thinking Designs' Onboard Player plugin for spiels and BGM playback. The LTE access point on the locomotive provides a low-cost wireless data backbone and sends GPS location data via an LTE cellular connection to the station Q-SYS Core utilizing Forward Thinking Designs' proprietary Offboard Extension server. This allows spiels and BGM, or any other commands, to be triggered as the train approaches and/or departs. A custom Q-SYS UCI allows for mode selection, adjustments of which cues are played, and where the cues are triggered using GPS latitude/longitude coordinates or direction of travel, as well as other settings.
In addition to simplifying day-to-day operations, the system developed by Forward Thinking Designs provides a user-friendly interface for Strasburg's personnel. This interface, along with the built-in Show Editor, allows for easy reconfiguration of the system as their needs change. Switching between daily operations and special events is as simple as a button push on the UCI, providing a sense of ease and control.
About Strausburg Rail Road
irst used for passenger and freight transportation, the railroad’s main purpose became a freight interchange with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Following World War II, improved highway transportation decreased the need for the railroad. By the mid-1950s, the Strasburg Rail Road was nearing the end of its usefulness. In 1957, the destruction of the tracks caused by a series of storms placed an immediate embargo on the carload freight. The owners were unwilling to invest in the necessary repairs.
While petitions for abandonment were being considered, Henry K. Long, an industrialist, and railfan from nearby Lancaster, along with Donald E. L. Hallock, another enthusiastic railfan with a vision, formed a group of interested individuals to save the railroad. With perseverance and a creative idea, the Strasburg Rail Road was saved.
After repairing the worst spots on the four-and-a-half-mile track, the owners began acquiring an inventory of historic locomotives and passenger cars from all across North America. Using the old feed mill as a station, the ambitious band of “rail barons” opened the railroad to visitors in 1958. 2008 marked the 50th anniversary of Strasburg Rail Road as a tourist railroad.
Today, as we look back at their labor of love, the Strasburg Rail Road is one of Lancaster County’s most popular tourist attractions – recognized as one of America’s most significant examples of early 20th-century railroading.
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