Downstairs, the porch, living room and dining room are cluttered with maps, railroad books and timetables. To make it easier to view the trains at night, Mr. Davis even prevailed on Conrail workers to splash glare reducing black paint on the hotel side of two outdoor lamps that illuminate the trains. The 68 year old Mr. Davis has been fascinated by trains since childhood, when his father, a dining car steward, took him on trips. Mr. Davis held various railroad jobs while in school, and for years volunteered at a small New Jersey railroad that operates steam-powered trains for tourists. After retiring, in 1992 as a school administrator in New, Jersey, Mr. Davis pursued his first love, searching the bank roads and small towns of Central Pennsylvania for a place by the tracks.
Guests get a first class seat from which to see the minutiae of rail operations.
They spot helper units as Conrail adds extra locomotives to help long and heavy trains make the climb. Some don't even have to watch. The keenest buffs can tell the type and length of a train by the sounds it makes-the strong, steady rhythm of a coal train, accompanied by the thumping of flat wheels. The Sittlers arrive for their weekend stay after driving five hours from their New York home. Settling into the room.