Rough n Tumble - primarily a Steam Museum. Ronks PA

[TAKerry]

Seeing a post in the 'period images' sparked my brain. Though they do have a car barn with some really nice examples of cars and a few old motorcycles, but Rough n Tumble is primarily a Steam Museum. Located in Ronks PA (just east of Lancaster), maybe a half hr or so from Hershey in beautiful Lancaster Co. They have a steam up only a couple times a year but def worth a visit. To see those mighty machines running around is pretty cool to say the least.

 

https://roughandtumble.org

[Terry Bond]

I've been there several times for their steam events and enjoyed them tremendously. They used to also have a great flea market, but recent reports indicate that part of it has declined over the years.

Terry

[philip roitman]

What a great Museum and a working one at that. Was lucky enough to do a AACA Gettysburg Region National Founders Tour a few years ago that included Rough and Tumble. LOVED IT! I look forward to going back one day.

[Gary_Ash]

The Rough & Tumble Museum is a great place to visit with kids & family.  We've been a couple of times.  Lots of things to see and do, near Lancaster, PA, middle of PA Dutch country.  We got to ride on the train, my wife even had a chance to operate an old turret lathe and make a knurled brass thumbscrew in a few minutes.  On the day we were there in 2017, our friend Jerry Kurtz was helping to operate the steam train.  There are a number of old steam tractors/threshing engines and some huge stationary engines.  There is a nice collection of old cars, not museum pieces but fun.  There are also a number of old metal working machines - Joe Puleo would love them.  In normal times, i.e. non COVID, they have food available.  It's worth a few hours to visit.

 

Steam-powered threshing engine run by coal fire.  We saw a young woman shoveling coal

into the fire box to build up steam.

 

The steam train engine.

 

Jerry Kurtz in the coal tender.  Jerry is a long-time Studebaker fan. 

 

A steam powered lawn mower used at the White House.

 

A Studebaker water wagon.

 

An old Brown and Sharpe machine tool.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by Gary_Ash (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

A B&S #3 horizontal mill. It's one of the "late" ones - probably about 1917. The gear box on the side controlled the horizontal feed speeds. The earlier machines had another 3 or 4-step pulley rather than a gear box and only had that many choices. The speeds are relative to the spindle speed - all of which is much more limiting than a modern machinist would expect. But, ALL of our brass cars and a lot of others up to the 1930s were built with machines like this. I had an "00" - the smallest version of this, serial #41 (c.1897-98). I made a gear that is now in the apron of my lathe with it so as archaic as it may look, these are still functional machines.

[Restorer32]

I will be driving past R&T within the next 2 hours on my way to Cat Tail Foundry. Many Amish are involved with R&T.  Some actually use steam engines on their farms.

[TAKerry]

Food is a whole different story!  Shoo fly pie, homemade root beer, fresh horseradish, just a few of my favorites....

 

The first time I was there I was amazed at how quiet these behemoth machines actually run.  Being used to hearing the diesel roar of a large dozer, etc. 

[Restorer32]

Food is generally good but Son, Wife and I managed to get food poisoning from pancakes we ate there.

[TAKerry]

19 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

Food is generally good but Son, Wife and I managed to get food poisoning from pancakes we ate there.

YIKES!  That will spoil the fun. I got bad chicken at RoFo, never again!

[Paul Dobbin]

On 4/14/2021 at 1:54 PM, philip roitman said:

What a great Museum and a working one at that. Was lucky enough to do a AACA Gettysburg Region National Founders Tour a few years ago that included Rough and Tumble. LOVED IT! I look forward to going back one day.

     I rode on that train with you while there.   2017

[Century Eight]

This is (Ronks PA) also in the same town as Sight and Sound theatre and the Strasbourg Railroad.

 You can stay in a caboose motel.

Edited April 26, 2022 by Century Eight (see edit history)