@prrjim posted:While the Strasburg show is only a half day, there are lots and lots of RR things to do with a couple of hours. I think Steamtown in Scranton is less than 3 hours away. This is a National Historic Site or National park. They have an nice collection. The Strasburg RR is right there and on weekends they have been running 2 steam trains. The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is right across the road from the Strasburg RR and they have a very nice collection. The Western Maryland Scenic RR is only a little over 2 hours away in Cumberland Maryland and they run the C&O 1309 - a 2-6-6-2 mallet they finished restoring last year. And from Cumberland it is not that far to Cass with all the logging locos, but not sure how far. It is in the mountains.
There is a Railfan B&B called the Bridgeview Inn that is right at the west end of the Rockville Bridge where NS crosses the Susquehanna River on the old PRR 22 stone arch bridge. You can sit on the rear deck and watch the train on the bridge. It is about 45 minutes from Strasburg.
All that is a long ways from Iowa, but you might find it worth the trip if you can take the time.
You left out the East Broad Top now running steam again with No. 16 in Rockhill Furnace under 2 hours from Strasburg.
