Fans of mechanical engineering marvels, steam locomotives and trains in general often visit what is known as the Steamtown National Historic Site (run by the U.S. National Park Service) in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Some years ago, I took Kyra to this National Park Service site at the start of a great loop trip that included stops in Altoona, Pennsylvania (Horseshoe Curve), Dayton, Ohio (National Museum of U..S. Air Force); Sandusky, Ohio (Cedar Point Amusement Park — The Roller Coaster Capital of the World!); Dearborn, Michigan (Henry Ford Museum — or as Kyra refers to this marvel, "The How Things Work" museum); Niagara Falls; and her grandparents home in West Newton, Massachusetts before returning to Fairfield County in Connecticut. During that first visit, we stayed at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel — a truly amazing historic landmark that once served as a passenger train station rivaling Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal.

Almost every year since, I have returned at least once to this wonderful hotel and the nearby Steamtown National Historic Site. Standing near the entrance is Union Pacific engine 4012 (pictured to left), an example of what arguably was the most powerful type of steam locomotives ever built in the United States. This steam engine has wheels in what is known as a 4-8-8-4 configuration, combining two sets of eight driving wheels with both a four-wheel leading truck for stability entering curves and a four-wheel trailing truck to support the large firebox.

During World War II, these giants were used to haul a huge volume of the heavy ammunition trains over the Wasatch Mountains in eastern Utah and western Wyoming. In fact, during the war, after German agents filed reports that the Americans had giant steam engines that were moving huge trains full of vital war material over steep mountain grades at high speed, their reports were dismissed as "impossible". These locomotives were so powerful and relatively easy to run that they were among the last steam engines to be removed from active commercial service in the late 1950s.

Kyra knew that one of her father's prized possessions was a brass H2O model railroad version of this engine. Hence, she suggested that we make this stop as part of that summer's "tasting tour" focused on learning about how things work. We very much enjoyed that trip to Scranton as I did alone again this past weekend. I hope, though, that one day soon that Kyra might again accompany her father on such a learning adventure.