All About Trains.

My son has been a train enthusiast since birth.

Steam engines, diesels, he loves them all. George and his cousin Thomas, who is the same age were drawn together over their love of trains. They would spend hours during visits talking, building and playing everything Thomas. So when we took them on their first trip to the Strasburg Railroad, to see Thomas the Train, you could only imagine their excitement.

This is George and I and George in October 2006, on his first trip on to the Strasburg Railroad.( I know the date says 2004, it's wrong.)

This is George with George and cousin Thomas in October 2007.

Thomas and George at Strasburg in October 2008.

And still today, even though they're almost 6, they still share a love of trains, of all kinds and The Strasburg Railroad. This weekend, we went on our first trip to ride the Strasburg Steam Engine this year.

Sophia, George and cousin Thomas at Strasburg in September 2010.

 The kids have as much fun there even when Thomas isn't making his special appearance, which runs a couple times a year. Yesterday, we boarded Strasburg's own Steam Engine and took a trip through the rolling farm hills of Amish land, passed the Red Caboose Motel, chugged past Cherry Crest Adventure Farm,

Cherry Crest Adventure Farm.

 stopped to listen to the Ghost Train respond to the steam engines powerful whistle, and waited at Paradise Junction for the Engine to switch to the front and take the trip home.

Ticket ready!

John enjoying his first ride on the train.

The friendly conductor.

The kids had as much fun as the first time they ever rode the train. Strasburg never gets old for them or for us. I don't know if it's the look of excitement on their faces as they see the Steam Engine rolling into the station and blow it's powerful horn,

The Steam Engine switching sides at Paradise Junction.

                                      or the peaceful ride through the rolling farm hills

 but we love Starsburg just as much as our kids do. There is more to do at the Railroad than riding the trains, there are gift shops, restaurants, and plenty of stuff for kids to do.

Usually we would have hopped on over to the  Railroad Museum Pennsylvania, which is a must see and right across the street, but this time we ventured on to The Choo Choo Barn. 

Upon entering The Choo Choo barn,we had no idea what to expect, after all, we thought they just sold model trains. You enter into a gift area, and passing through the curtains you enter into the one of the most magical model train displays in the area.

A large room with an exquisite train display. The animals at the zoo, move their heads. The circus trapeze artist jumps on the trampoline and the fire display, highly recommended by the woman who greeted us upon entering, is not to be missed. She suggested we see the fire display two times and having no idea what she was talking about we walked quickly by, but my husband stood there to wait and see what would happen. "Hon! You have to see this.", he said. As I approached we saw a model house, catch on fire, a fire truck pulls out of the station and approaches it, and little firemen that appear to get out of the truck, put a ladder to the house, and spray the house with water. If you look close, a fireman in the front of the house seems to appear from the house, saving one of it's residents.

                        Every part of the train display, is intricately detailed and doesn't miss a beat.

A car accident scene.

In my husband's favorite scene, a baseball game,even the pitcher moves his head to look around.

A ski slope.

                      The children loved it, but as adults we appreciated the time and detail it contained.

Sophia, Thomas and George browsing the train display.

The Choo Choo Barn definitely a must see when you visit the Strasburg Railroad. Strasburg is a great place to make family memories that last a lifetime and I am sure we will be returning in the years to come.

For more information on the Strasburg Railroad, click here to visit there website. And for more information on the Choo Choo Barn, click here.

Trains, Trains, and More Trains

My son George has always been a train enthusiast.

He sleeps, eats and dreams trains.

The purchase of his first train set was the introduction to an obsession. We have totes and totes of wooden tracks, blue tracks, gray tracks and Geotrax. And he's good at it too. He doesn't stick to simple figure eight tracks or layouts that just fit on the train table, he sits on the floor, he thinks, he envisions, he designs and he creates. I have never seen him build the same track twice and it's never something I could come up with. His tracks contain, loops, bridges, intricate turns, intersections and multiple levels.

And it's not just Thomas trains, it's Geotrax trains, its  all trains in general, trains stores, trains clubs and even train books. Everything trains.And he knows all the parts to the trains, by name and what they do, he even teaches me a lesson now and then. We can take him to ride the River Line, The Septa or the PATCO and he loves it but it's all the same.

But his favorite by far is still the Strasburg Railroad. When that large steam engine pulls into the station and blows it's whistle his face lights up like its Christmas morning every single time. The Strasburg Railroad is located in Lancaster which takes you on a nice drive through Amish country and it's definitely worth the ride. My kids love to go and ride the steam engine, it takes you on a 45 minute ride through rolling farm hills and country side. You can ride in the closed car or open car. My son's favorite part is at midpoint in the ride when the train changes directions via the switching engine.

You can watch the engine that was pulling the train at one end, switch to the opposite ends. Don't let the journey stop with the train ride. Hop across the street to The Railroad of Pennsylvania Museum. We didn't even know about this museum until our 3rd trip to the railroad and it's definitely worth the visit. Take a tour through the museums 100 locomotives and rail cars on display, most of which you can board and experience first hand.

The museum even includes an interactive children's corner.

Your train enthusiast can play engineer, loading coal into the train.

 The Strasburg Railroad is probably most famous for it's Day out with Thomas event it hosts a couple of times a year.The famous blue engine will be making it's appearance at the Strasburg Railroad the week of of June 12th through the 20th.

I don't know if it's the train ride or the fact that I'm fueled by my son's excitement and interest in trains, but we always have a great time when we go. At $18 a ticket for adults and children over the age of 2, you get to ride the coach pulled by Thomas, meet Sir Topham Hat and take a 20 minute train ride.
Want a money saving idea? Have your kids watch as Thomas rides into the station and then board the train pulled by Strasburg's own locomotive. This ride is double the time and costs less, children 3 and under are free, ages,3-11 are $7 and ages 13+ are $14. Not bad, they won't even know the difference, they'll have just as much fun and you just saved money for snacks or a souvenir, which beware, especially on Thomas the Train event days, there are plenty.

                                     

If your child loves trains and refers to the trains as if they were his friends, like mine does, this is going to be a journey he will never forget.

                                       

After all, George's first word was train.

Okay.....well, it should have been.

The Strasburg Railroad has some great events happening in July. Check out their website for more information.