National Toy Train Museum

Last updated
National Toy Train Museum
Strasburg, Pennsylvania - National Toy Train Museum.jpg
The museum in 2010
National Toy Train Museum
Established1977 (1977)
Location300 Paradise Lane, Strasburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Coordinates 39°59′15″N76°09′07″W / 39.9876°N 76.1519°W / 39.9876; -76.1519
Type Toy museum
VisitorsClosed in January, February, and March. Reopens each year in April.
Owner Train Collectors Association
Website www.tcatrains.org/museum/

The National Toy Train Museum (NTTM), at 300 Paradise Lane, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, USA, is focused on creating an interactive display of toy trains. [1] Its collection dates from the early 1800s through current production. The building houses the Toy Train Reference Library and the National Business Office of the Train Collectors Association. It is located just around the corner from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. [2]

Contents

The NTTM is owned and operated by the Train Collectors Association (TCA) and serves as its headquarters. [3] The museum's mission is to promote train collecting and to preserve the heritage of toy trains. Founded in 1977, part of the museum's ongoing appeal is that it brings children and adults together. The museum features Six working train layouts and a Toy Train Reference Library with reference and archival materials serving model railroaders. [4] [5] The nearby Choo Choo Barn "features a more than 1,700-square-foot model train layout with 22 operating model trains and more than 150 animations". [6]

In August 2012, the National Toy Train Museum was one of twenty locations invited to participate in an international virtual celebration of Swiss contributions to railroad technology. The Skype talks, in which engineers, historians, museum curators and other experts presented Swiss trains and other Swiss train technologies and answered questions from the public, were accessible by computer and at the participating locations. [7]

The museum is open on a seasonal basis with an admission fee charged. TCA members are admitted free. It is closed from January through March. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail transport modelling</span> Modeling trains hobby

Railway modelling or model railroading is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancaster County, Pennsylvania</span> County in Pennsylvania, United States

Lancaster County, sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 552,984, making it Pennsylvania's sixth-most populous county. Its county seat is also Lancaster. Lancaster County comprises the Lancaster metropolitan statistical area. The county is part of the South Central region of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strasburg, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in Pennsylvania, United States

Strasburg is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It developed as a linear village stretching approximately 2 miles (3 km) along the Great Conestoga Road, later known as the Strasburg Road. The population was 3,117 at the 2020 census.

The Little Engine That Could is an American folktale that became widely known in the United States after publication in 1930 by Platt & Munk. The story is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chattanooga Choo Choo</span> 1941 song by Mack Gordon

"Chattanooga Choo Choo" is a 1941 song that was written by Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren. It was originally recorded as a big band/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade. It was the first song to receive a gold record, presented by RCA Victor in 1942, for sales of 1.2 million copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania</span> Railroad museum in Strasburg, Pennsylvania

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is a railroad museum in Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strasburg Rail Road</span> Heritage railroad in Pennsylvania

The Strasburg Rail Road is a heritage railroad and the oldest continuously operating standard-gauge railroad in the western hemisphere, as well as the oldest public utility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1832, the Strasburg Rail Road Company is today a heritage railroad offering excursion trains hauled by steam locomotives on 4.02 mi (6.47 km) of track in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, as well as providing contract railroad mechanical services, and freight service to area shippers. The railroad's headquarters are outside Strasburg, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Route 896</span> State highway in Pennsylvania, US

Pennsylvania Route 896 is a north–south state highway located in the counties of Chester and Lancaster in southeastern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at the Maryland state line just south of Strickersville in London Britain Township. South of the state line, the road continues as unsigned Maryland Route 896 for 0.21 mi (0.34 km), and then enters Delaware as Delaware Route 896 toward Newark. The northern terminus is at PA 340 in the East Lampeter Township community of Smoketown, just east of the city of Lancaster. The highway serves the borough of Strasburg, known for its Amish tourist attractions. The section south of the borough down to the state line is predominantly farmland. PA 896 follows a northwest-southeast orientation between PA 340 and the Maryland state line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Route 741</span> State highway in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, US

Pennsylvania Route 741 is a 26.3-mile-long (42.3 km) state highway that runs through western and southern Lancaster County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The western terminus is along Rohrerstown Road north of an intersection with Commercial Avenue near East Petersburg. The eastern terminus is at PA 41 in Gap. PA 741 heads south from East Petersburg and runs through the western suburbs of Lancaster. The route turns southeast and passes through Millersville before it turns east at New Danville. PA 741 forms a concurrency with U.S. Route 222 between Willow Street and Lampeter before it continues east through farmland in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country that is home to several Amish families, passing through Strasburg before reaching Gap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Diego Model Railroad Museum</span> Museum and Exhibition Hall in San Diego, California

The San Diego Model Railroad Museum is a model railroad museum in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1982. The museum is located on the lower level of Casa de Balboa on the Prado in Balboa Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wooden toy train</span> Childrens toy

Wooden toy trains are toy trains that run on a wooden track system with grooves to guide the wheels of the rolling stock. While the trains, tracks and scenery accessories are made mainly of wood, the engines and cars connect to each other using metal hooks or small magnets, and some use plastic wheels mounted on metal axles. Some trains are made to resemble anthropomorphical, fictional, and prototypical railroad equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton Toy and Model Museum</span> Toy museum, Model museum in East Sussex, England

Brighton Toy and Model Museum is an independent toy museum situated in Brighton, East Sussex. Its collection focuses on toys and models produced in the UK and Europe up until the mid-Twentieth Century, and occupies four thousand square feet of floor space within four of the early Victorian arches supporting the forecourt of Brighton railway station. Founded in 1991, the museum holds over ten thousand toys and models, including model train collections, puppets, Corgi, Dinky, Budgie Toys, construction toys and radio-controlled aircraft.

The Choo Choo Barn is a 1,700-square-foot (160 m2) train display in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States, consisting of over 150 hand-built animated figures and vehicles and 22 operating trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Railroad 460</span> Preserved PRR E6s class steam locomotive

PRR 460, nicknamed the "Lindbergh Engine", is a Pennsylvania Railroad E6s steam locomotive now located in the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, outside of Strasburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was built in 1914 and became famous after racing an aircraft to New York City carrying newsreels of Charles Lindbergh's return to the United States after his transatlantic flight in 1927. In the late 1930s, No. 460 was operated by the Long Island Rail Road, and by the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in the early 1950s, before being retired in 1953. No. 460 is the only surviving locomotive of its class and was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1979. From 2010 to 2016, No. 460 underwent cosmetic restoration at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Railroad 7002</span> Preserved PRR E7s class 4-4-2 locomotive

Pennsylvania Railroad 7002 is a class "E7s" 4-4-2 "Atlantic" type steam locomotive built for the Pennsylvania Railroad by their own Altoona Works in August 1902. Today, it is on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania outside of Strasburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. Originally No. 8063, the PRR renumbered it to No. 7002 after the original, claimed to be a land-speed-record-setter, was scrapped. It is the only survivor of its class and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toy Train Reference Library</span>

The Toy Train Reference Library is a library for members of the Train Collectors Association (TCA) and the public. It has material about the history of the toy train industry and is located in the Train Collectors Association Headquarters building in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, US. Also in the building is the National Toy Train Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Train Collectors Association</span>

The Train Collectors Association (TCA) is an international non-profit organization of people who operate and collect toy trains, toy train accessories, toy train books, toy train paper, and anything else rail transport related. TCA was founded in October 1954 in Yardley, Pennsylvania and is currently headquartered in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The National Toy Train Museum affiliated with TCA is included in the "List of museums in Pennsylvania".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Caboose Motel</span> Train car motel in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Red Caboose Motel is a 48-room train motel in the Amish country near Ronks, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where guests stay in railroad cabooses. The motel consists of over three dozen cabooses and other railroad cars, such as dining cars that serve as a restaurant. It was developed and opened in 1970 by Donald M. Denlinger, who started with 19 surplus cabooses purchased at auction from the Penn Central Railroad. The expanded and renovated property has also hosted railroad-themed events and concerts and dances in its barn.

References

  1. Things To Do in Lancaster County discuss the National Toy Train Museum on page 8.
  2. "Railroad Museum of PA: Model Trains". Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  3. Smolka, Bo (2005-03-17). "For railroad buffs, Strasburg, Pa., is choo-choo heaven". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  4. Raffaele, Martha (2002-12-02). "Train exhibit has kept hobbyists on track for 25 years". USATODAY.com. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  5. Stoneback, Diane W. (2011-07-09). "Make Tracks for Strasburg: Lancaster County Town is train lovers mecca". Morning Call. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  6. Galucci-White, Gina (2011-10-23). "A Train-Tastic Town". The Frederick News-Post Online. Frederick, MD. Archived from the original on 2011-10-29. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  7. Bonzom, Marie-Christine (2012-08-11). "Virtual celebration : Online gathering rides on Swiss train technology". swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  8. "TCA - Train Collectors Association Members Home" . Retrieved 2012-11-25.