Celebrate everything trains (in an actual historic train station) during National Train Day 2010, this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Cincinnati Museum Center.
Cincinnati Museum Center and the Cincinnati Railroad Club are teaming up for the local celebration of Amtrak's commemoration of the 141st anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad's inception.
Attractions will include:
- A five-foot tall, one-quarter scale replica of Norfolk & Western's Steam Engine 611 train, built, owned and operated by Shandon resident Don Guill. The replica features original steel from Cincinnati Union Terminal's former passenger concourse and is based on the real train that Cincinnati Railroad Club members often traveled on from the station in the 1980s and 1990s;
- The opening of Tower A, once the main control tower for Cincinnati Union Terminal and now maintained by the Cincinnati Railroad Club, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
- Representatives from the National Association of Railroad Passengers and All Aboard Ohio, who will provide information on the benefits of rail travel;
- "Cincinnati in Motion" at the Cincinnati History Museum, featuring model trains rolling through an early 20th century Cincinnati streetscape;
- Displays and coupons from EnterTrainment Junction, home to the largest permanent indoor train display in the world;
- Displays and information from the Indiana Transportation Museum, the Hoosier state's primary source for information on Indiana's railroad history; and
- Raffles for two round-trip tickets on Amtrak's "Cardinal" route and for a meal for two on the Cincinnati Dinner Train.
"We're proud to be back in Cincinnati's Union Terminal for our third National Train Day," he said. "We look forward to the public coming down and learning more about the industry and having fun. For the past 76 years, Cincinnati Union Terminal has been considered the focal point of railroading. It's an icon in Cincinnati that represents rail travel and probably the best of Cincinnati architecture to me."At its height, Cincinnati Union Terminal had a capacity of 216 trains per day. During World War II, an average of 34,000 passengers arrived or departed daily.
Previous reading on BC:
Panel discussion makes case for Issue 6; Museum Center wins national award (10/6/09)
Museum Center ramps up pro-levy campaign (8/31/09)
MyUnionTerminal.org shares memories, updates on possible levy (6/17/09)
Cincinnati Goes to War at Union Terminal (6/10/09)
Contractor selected, $120M Union Terminal restoration begins (6/8/09)
Museum Center seeking expanded landmark status (5/26/09)
