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The town of Strasburg in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania is a railroader’s heaven. You have the famous Strasburg Railroad, the oldest short line railroad in the United States. You have the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania right across the street with the large collections of locomotives and rolling stock. You have the Choo Choo Barn that holds a large model train display depicting Lancaster County. You can spend a night at the Red Caboose Motel where you stay in a real caboose. In the town itself, you have the Iron Horse restaurant. With all of that, you are probably wondering what else could be in Strasburg. One place that you cannot overlook is the National Toy Train Museum.
In case you are wondering, this is not one of those toy train museums where you have this small train display. This is a museum that has a very big collection of toy trains. From the very moment you enter the building that is built to resemble an old train depot, you are greeted by walls and walls of trains from Lionel to Bachmann to American Flyer from the early years to the present day. Yes, there is that many trains. Along with the shelves full of trains are, what everyone wants to see, the model train displays of every single scale. You can also see videos of the trains as they roll through the displays and visit the National Toy Train Library, which has a very extensive collection of books, catalogs, postcards and much more. As mentioned, this is not your normal train museum.
The National Toy Train Museum is located at 300 Paradise Lane in Ronks, Pennsylvania next to the Red Caboose Motel and Restaurant just north of Pennsylvania Route 741. They are open from 10:00am to 5:00pm on most days, and admission is only $7.00 for adults. You can get more information at www.nttmuseum.org.
If you ever want to meet people who play with trains, the National Toy Train Museum has people who have many trains to play with.
The railroad did not begin in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, but the state has many great railroad sites. The state is also famous for its railroad towns. One of these towns is Strasburg, a suburb of Lancaster. The Strasburg Railroad is the oldest continuously operating standard gauge railroad in the western hemisphere, and this railroad has been giving railroad excursions through the Amish countryside for many years, and it is one of the most popular train rides in the entire world. As many enjoy the Strasburg Railroad, it overshadows another great attraction that is just one thousand feet away.
Welcome to the Choo Choo Barn. What is the Choo Choo Barn?
Some of you are saying, “Well, duh! It is a barn, but instead of housing farm animals, it houses choo choo’s.”
Well, you are partially right. It does not house full sized choo choo’s like the ones you see at the nearby Strasburg Railroad and Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, but it is the home of a model train display.
Some of you are saying, “Yeah! I know. It is one of those model train displays where a model train goes around and around and around a small circle. It is just another boring model train display.”
If you enjoy boring model train displays, then you will be very disappointed when you visit the Choo Choo Barn. How great is the Choo Choo Barn?
You may have heard of Northlandz in the town of Flemington in the U.S. state of New Jersey, home of the largest model train display in the world, and you can still visit Northlandz today. Then you have places like Roadside America in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania and EnterTrainment Junction in the West Chester Township, a suburb of Cincinnati in the U.S. state of Ohio, two other large model train displays that are sadly defunct. All three of these train displays was the dream of one man.
How does the Choo Choo Barn compare? It began as a dad giving a gift to his son. It began in a basement of a house. Like many great train displays, it outgrew the basement. It was then relocated to an old maintenance barn, and the Choo Choo Barn came to be as it was opened to the public for millions to enjoy, and it remained under family ownership until 2023 by a man named Gary Russell.
As you enter the room, you see the 1,700 square foot model train display before you. You see a big village with handmade structures. No kits were used in this display. You are mesmerized by the many trains as they go around and around and around. You see a construction crew doing road construction. You can take a peek at the zoo. You can go to the circus You can gaze at the waterfalls. Yes, it is real water going over the falls. As you tour the display, you might want to take in a baseball game.
Through the years, the Choo Choo Barn grew from being a model train display to a gift shop to a small shopping center with model train stores. It went from being the Choo Choo Barn to Choo Choo Barn: Traintown, U.S.A. They also have the Choo Choo Barn Foundation which is a non-profit foundation which acquired the Rocky Springs Carousel. They do have future plans of moving to a new location in the Strasburg area and expanding their attraction while trying to attract younger people to the joys of model railroading.
The Choo Choo Barn: Traintown, U.S.A. is located at 226 Gap Road (Pennsylvania Route 741) in Strasburg, Pennsylvania just a short distance from the Strasburg Railroad and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. It is open every day (closed on certain holidays) from 10:00am to 5:00pm. It is suggested that you give yourself an hour to visit the model train display. It is all on one level making it easy for those in wheelchairs. Parking is on site. You can get information on admission and read more into the history of Choo Choo Barn at https://choochoobarn.com/.
The next time you are in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, ride the Strasburg Railroad. Tour the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. See the great model train display at the Choo Choo Barn. Oh, they do have animals. You will see the animals along with the many model trains.
The U.S. state of Kentucky is a state known as the Bluegrass State. Many people know about Kentucky Fried Chicken which was started by a man named Harland Sanders, commonly known as Colonel Sanders, even though he started in a restaurant in the state, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken was opened in Salt Lake City, Utah. The state is known for its horses, and it has the continuously running sporting event in the world, the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, which is a horse race that is the first race of the Triple Crown. The state is known for its bourbon, of which there are plenty of bourbon distilleries in the state mainly around the Frankfort and Lexington areas. You may have heard of My Old Kentucky Home. It is a real house in Bardstown. In the city of Bowling Green, you will find the National Corvette Hall of Fame. Along with Churchill Downs where the Kentucky Derby is run, the city of Louisville is known for the Louisville Slugger bat factory where many baseball bats are made and sold, and you can tour the factory and buy a bat of your own. You have Mammoth Cave, the largest known cave system in the world. Very few people think of the railroads in Kentucky as there of plenty of great railroad sites in the state.
Welcome to the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky. Although the original museum was founded in 1954, it has been at it current site since 1990 after the land was donated by locals to be used as the site of the museum.
As you enter the museum parking lot, you are greeted by Locomotive Number 11 from the Louisville Cement Company. You park your car, and you notice a wooden boxcar next to the old train station. What is this boxcar? It is known as a Merci Car and it one of fifty wooden boxcars that were sent to different areas of the United States of America by France as a thank you to the U.S. for protecting the nation of France from being taken over by Nazi Germany during World War II. The Kentucky Railway Museum was one of the fortunate recipients of one of these cars.
Now it is time to go inside. You enter the gift shop which is located in the ticket master’s office. You see the telephone, the telegraph machine used to send Morris code, and you get a view that the ticket master had of the trains even though it is much different today that the original view.
You then go into the big room. What is in the big room? Of course, you have railroad artifacts. You have an HO model train display. You have many models of locomotives and passengers cars on the wall. You have model locomotives enclosed in glass.
The model trains and artifacts are nice, but you want to see big trains. Time to go outside.
Locomotive Number 770 from the Nashville and Louisville Railroad is the first thing you see as you approach the train shed covering a row of cars. Many of these cars to include passenger cars were used on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. If you are fortunate enough, the museum does have train rides.
The Kentucky Railway Museum is located 136 South Main Street (U.S. Route 31E) in New Haven, Kentucky. Hours vary by the time of the year. Parking is on site. The great news is that the museum and the train is wheelchair accessible. You can get more information about the history of the museum, admission, train rides, and hours at https://www.kyrail.org/.
The Kentucky Railway Museum is one great museum to visit. You can almost say that it is one of the state’s great treasures.
Some of you are saying, “Well, duh! It was a railroad where people read books while riding the railroad.”
Ladies and gentlemen, that is not the correct answer.
Some of you are saying, “Oh! I see. It was a railroad that had the ability to read so they called it the Reading Railroad.”
Ladies and gentlemen, that is not the correct answer either.
What was the Reading Railroad? (In case you are wondering, it is pronounced red-ing as in the color red as opposed to reading as in reading a book.) It was originally called the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Road running mainly along the Schuylkill River between the city of Philadelphia and the city of Reading in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, and it was one of the earliest in the United States of America. It was later renamed the Reading Company but was commonly known as the Reading Railroad or the Reading Lines even though the headquarters remained in Philadelphia. The Reading Company served the eastern region of Pennsylvania connecting the coal mines to the ports in Philadelphia until they were overtaken by Conrail in 1976. Many of the surviving railroad lines are now owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum. The museum is completely dedicated to the Reading Company.
The journey begins at the entrance. The museum occupies a structure originally owned by the Pennsylvania Electric Steel Casting Company. You enter the gift shop and then the museum. You see models of trains. You see model train displays. You see a replica of a station master’s office. You see tools and artifacts used by the Reading Company.
Some of you are saying, “That is nice that they built a museum that remembers the Reading Railroad, but it would be nice to see some real trains.”
That is where we come to the best part of the museum. What is the best part?
Welcome to the yard. This is a railroad yard made up mostly of railroad cars used on the Reading Railroad with a few exceptions. You have boxcars, passenger cars, locomotives, cabooses, and so much more. There is also a replica railroad tower.
The Reading Railroad Heritage Museum is located at 500 S. Third Street in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. It is a short drive from Interstate 78, U.S. Route 22, and Pennsylvania Route 61. The museum is only open from March to December on Saturdays from 10:00am to 4:00pm and Sundays from 12:00pm to 4:00pm. Admission required to enter the museum. Parking is street parking. The museum is self-guided, but only guided tours for the yard. The museum is wheelchair accessible, but the yard tour requires walking on terrain that is not paved and may be difficult for wheelchairs. You can get more information at https://www.readingrailroad.org/.
Come to the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. Learn more about the Reading Railroad, a railroad worth reading about.
Some of you are saying, “Well, it’s a ‘tiny town’.”
Yes. It is a tiny town.
Some of you are saying, “Yes. It is a tiny town. It is not a railroad town. Therefore, I will not be shrinking myself to visit this place.”
So what is Tiny Town, and why visit Tiny Town? Located in the city of Hot Springs that is named for its hot springs in the U.S. state of Arkansas, why would you want to take the time to visit Tiny Town?
As you approach Tiny Town, you will want to see more. Why?
You may have heard of a place called Roadside America in a small town known as Shartlesville in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was a model train village designed by one man who handmade each structure in the village. Then you had a place called EnterTrainment Junction, another model train village located in the city of Cincinnati in the U.S. state of Ohio. Sadly, both of these places closed and are places that will not be seen again.
That brings us to Tiny Town in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Like Roadside America and EnterTrainment Junction, Tiny Town is a model railroad village. Each structure is handmade without using any kits like most model train displays. The scenes on this display are from twenty two different U.S. states. You have small towns and carnivals and Indian villages and wild west towns and mountains and valleys. The Ferris wheels and other items actually move. There are waterfalls and rivers and lakes using actual water. Yes, real water goes over the waterfall and real water spring from the fountains.
This may be called Tiny Town, but the story behind it is not tiny nor is the excitement of visiting Tiny Town. You do not have to be a train lover to enjoy this masterpiece in a city known for its natural masterpieces.
Tiny Town is located at 374 Whittington Avenue in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is just a short drive from Arkansas Route 7 and a short drive and walk from the Hot Springs National Park and the downtown area. Please note that it is only open from March to October. Everything is on one floor making it completely wheelchair accessible. They do not have their own parking, but there is plenty of street parking available. You can get more information about Tiny Town and read more into its history at https://www.tinytowntrains.com/.
It is called Tiny Town. When you visit, you will see that there is nothing tiny about this place.
The U.S. state of Kentucky is a state known as the Bluegrass State. Many people know about Kentucky Fried Chicken which was started by a man named Harland Sanders, commonly known as Colonel Sanders, even though he started in a restaurant in the state, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken was opened in Salt Lake City, Utah. The state is known for its horses, and it has the continuously running sporting event in the world, the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, which is a horse race that is the first race of the Triple Crown. The state is known for its bourbon, of which there are plenty of bourbon distilleries in the state mainly around the Frankfort and Lexington areas. You may have heard of My Old Kentucky Home. It is a real house in Bardstown. In the city of Bowling Green, you will find the National Corvette Hall of Fame. Along with Churchill Downs where the Kentucky Derby is run, the city of Louisville is known for the Louisville Slugger bat factory where many baseball bats are made and sold, and you can tour the factory and buy a bat of your own. You have Mammoth Cave, the largest known cave system in the world. Very few people think of the railroads in Kentucky as there of plenty of great railroad sites in the state.
Welcome to the Historic Railpark in Bowling Green, Kentucky. As you arrive, you will notice that it looks like an old train station. Well, that is because before it was a museum, it was a train station. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad built the train station in 1925, and twenty trains served the station each day. As passenger train service decline, some smaller cities like Bowling Green, Kentucky were no longer served by the passenger train.
Fortunately, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot was not demolished like many other train depots, and it eventually became the home of the Historic Railpark and Museum.
Some of you are saying, “That is nice that the train station was spared and made into a museum. Too bad that there is not much to see here.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, if you only enjoy museums that do not have much to offer, then the Historic Railpark and Museum is not for you. What is special about the Historic Railpark and Museum?
As mentioned, you will first notice that it was a train station. This is just the beginning. Yes. It is just the beginning.
Behind the old train station, you will see a train. No. It is not a little model train. It is a full size train. Located at the original boarding platform, you will see Louisville and Nashville Railroad Locomotive Number 796. Behind it is Railway Post Office Car Number 1107 also from the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. It is followed by the Duncan Hines Dining Car, the Towering Pine Sleeping Car, and the Presidential Parlor Car. Yes, you can take a guided tour of this train, but two other cars that are not open to the public is a caboose and one of the few hospital cars on display. If you are fortunate enough, CSX may treat you with a passing freight train which runs on the same tracks that the Louisville and Nashville Railroad used as the served the station.
If you think that you have seen everything, let us say that you have not seen much yet. It is now time to go inside.
As you enter the old train station from the old boarding platform, you enter the gift shop.
Some of you are saying, “What are they trying to do? Are they trying to get us to buy things before we tour the museum?”
It is designed where you enter the gift shop to pay your admission. The next thing you see the model trains. Yes, there are a few model trains here.
The waiting rooms, the main hall, and the upstairs are filled with rotating exhibits. As you look at the ceiling and the walls, you will think that you are in a grand train station and not a museum.
The Historic Railpark and Museum is a great Kentucky treasure. It is a place when railroad history continues to stand still.
The Historic Railpark and Museum is located at 401 Kentucky Street (U.S. Route 68) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The museum is open year round, but the hours and days vary throughout the year. Parking is on site. Although the museum is wheelchair accessible, the train is not. You can read more into the history of the museum, the old train station, how you can help out or donate with the restoration of some of their railroad cars, get information on admission, and get directions at https://www.historicrailpark.com/.
When you think about what is great about the U.S. state of Kentucky, think about the Kentucky Derby. Think about the Louisville Slugger. Think about Kentucky Fried Chicken. Think about that glass of bourbon. When you visit the Historic Railpark and Museum in Bowling Green, you will have a great railroad site on your mind.
The U.S. state of Massachusetts is one of the New England states that makes up the northeastern region of the United States of America. The state began as one of the thirteen original British colonies and became a U.S. state when the United States of America won its independence from Great Britain. It was here at a place called Plymouth Rock on the shore of Cape Cod Bay where the Pilgrims landed after a long voyage from Holland, and it was here where what was called the First Thanksgiving took place. Even though it was not the actual First Thanksgiving as the actual one happened in the U.S. state of Virginia near the present day city of Richmond, it was the Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving that the holiday is modeled after as it involved a feast where as the in Virginia, it was a long prayer of thanking God for surviving a long and dangerous voyage across the ocean. Massachusetts played a big role in the American Revolution with the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Boston Tea Party, the famous ride of Paul Revere, and ‘the shot heard around the world’ at the Battle at Concord Bridge. (In case you are wondering, ‘the shot heard around the world’, was not a gunshot that was so loud that it was heard as far away as Antarctica but message that the United States of America was fighting for its independence.) Along with the American Revolution, the city of Boston, the state capital, is a big sports town. It is the home of the Boston Celtics, the most championed team in the National Basketball Association and the third most championed team in North American professional sports. (The Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League is number two and the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball are number one.) Also, you will find the Basketball Hall of Fame in the city of Springfield. The state is known for its geography with a long stretch of land known as Cape Cod and its islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, and the state has a few great lighthouses. In the town of Provincetown at the very end of the Cape Cod peninsula is where the eastern end of U.S. Route 6, a road known as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway which honors American Civil War Veterans and is the longest route in the United States of America, is located.
Yes, the state of Massachusetts is known for many things. When people think about the state, very few people will think about the railroads. The railroad sites are commonly overshadowed by its other historic sites. There is one particular place where the railroad once was.
If you visit the town of Chatham, Massachusetts, you will see a nice, charming town. Located on the southeast corner of the state, you will get great views of the Atlantic Ocean, on old windmill, a lighthouse that is still active and own by the United States Coast Guard, and an old train station.
Some of you are saying, “Wait a minute. There is no railroad on Cape Cod.”
Welcome to the Chatham Railroad Museum.
Some of you are saying, “Oh! I see. They found an old train station and brought it to this town to make it a museum.”
Actually, you are wrong. The old train station, built in 1887 in what is called a Railroad Gothic style, is on its original site. On what was originally the trackside is a wooden caboose from the New York Central System. The town was the end of the line for the Chatham Railroad Company that ran between the town of Chatham and the town of Harwich. There was also a railroad yard in Chatham. As tourism in Chatham grew, so did the railroad. As the roads on Cape Cod improved, the railroad declined. Service to Chatham ended in 1937.
Today, very little evidence of the railroad remaining in Cape Cod with very few of the old railroad beds are now rail trails. As for the old train station, it later became the home of the Chatham Railroad Museum.
Some of you are saying, “Oh yeah, and it has somebody’s old train collection.”
Well, if you had two New York Central System model locomotives that were on display at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, you can say that it is a great collection. The exhibits display the history of the railroad to Chatham and the stations along the short railroad.
The Chatham Railroad Museum is located at 153 Depot Road in Chatham, Massachusetts, just off of Massachusetts Route 28. It is open from June to October. Admission is free, but they can use your donations to keep the museum open. The museum is staffed by volunteers with no paid staff. Although the train station is wheelchair accessible, the caboose is not. You can read more into the history of the Chatham Train Station and get information on hours and directions at https://www.chathamrailroadmuseum.com/.
The U.S. state of Massachusetts is a state full of American history, a state of sports history, a state of natural beauty, historic sites, and an old railroad town called Chatham. It is a town where you can enjoy a lobster roll with a little railroad history.
There are so many things about the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is a state that has so much natural beauty. You have the New River Gorge. You have Dolly Sods, the largest unspoiled natural area east of the Mississippi River. You have the many mountains and valleys. Are you thinking about the coal mining industry? You can visit the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, a once active coal mine in Beckley that is now open for public tours. What about railroads? You have the Cass Scenic Railroad in the town of Cass that takes you to the top of the second highest point in the state. Also in Cass, you can take a ride on the Durbin Rocket. You have the city of Elkins that was once a major railroad city with only excursion trains today. Elkins is also the home of the West Virginia Railroad Museum that tells the history of the railroad in the state. There is so much to the state of West Virginia from small towns to natural beauty to railroads to its cities with the largest city being Charleston, the state capital. A city that is very often overlooked is the city of Wheeling. How is it overlooked as Interstate 70 and the National Road (U.S. Route 40) passes through this city which happens to be on the Ohio River and borders Ohio? Once known as the ‘Gateway to the West’, it was once a big railroad town with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad having a presence here, but it has a great little treasure known as the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum.
What is the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum?
Some of you are saying, “Well, duh, it is a museum of toy and trains that happens to be on Kruger Street.”
You are exactly right. It is on Kruger Street. It is about toys and trains. Well, it is about model trains of which there are plenty here. Yes, there are plenty of museums about toys and about trains, but what makes this place different?
It all began with a father and son who collected toy trains. The collection grew, and they decided to display their collection in a museum, but where?
As you arrive at the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum, you notice that it looks like a school. That is because it was a school. It was bought through an auction, and the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum was opened in September of 1998.
Before you enter the old school, you notice a yellow caboose. Yes, there are cabooses everywhere, but this particular caboose is from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as a memorial to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s influence to the city of Wheeling.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is just the beginning.
You enter the museum, the very first thing you see… is a model train, but there is much more.
The museum features rooms dedicated to different toys, and there are rooms dedicated to different model trains. You have the O Gauge Room. (O Gauge is a size of the model train.)
Then there is the Ohio Valley History Room which has a model train display of the Ohio River Valley of which Wheeling is a part of, and there is a display in honor of Chuck Yeager, a famous jet pilot from the state who is famous for breaking the sound barrier.
What is a train museum without the Historic Train Room? The room has a collection of historic model trains from Lionel.
You have the HO Gauge Room. Yes, it features a HO Gauge model train display, but it also displays locomotives in brass and model trains from all gauges.
Yes this is a museum about toys and trains. For those who are a fan of Peanuts (the cartoon and not the food item), the museum features a collection of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and other Peanuts characters that was donated by a local doctor named William Mercer so that many would enjoy the collection for years to come. Yes, it is about Peanuts, but there is also a model train display here as well.
The Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum is a very special museum in a not-so-famous part of West Virginia. A visit here is a visit you will cherish. For those of the older generation, it will bring back memories of your childhood. For the younger ones, they will see the toys that the children played with before them.
The Kruger Toy and Train Museum is located at 144 Kruger Street in Wheeling, West Virginia. It is less that a miles from Interstate 70, U.S. Route 40, and West Virginia Route 88. The museum is open year round, but hours do vary due to the time of the year. Parking is on site. Due to the age of the structure, the museum is not wheelchair accessible. You can learn more about the museum and its exhibits, the history of the museum and the building, and get information on hours and admission at https://www.toyandtrain.com/.
They call it wild and wonderful West Virginia, but the state has much to offer. The city of Wheeling has the Kruger Toy and Train Museum. When you visit, you will have a wonderful time.
John Cowgill: Stories of the Railroad 