Southeastern Railway Museum

 

5

6

Ali M.

East Point, GA

5/16/2008 1 photo

Holy Chattanooga Choo-Choo, I can't believe no one has reviewed this museum devoted to trains, trains and more trains. Well I am a dork and a mother and just a little over enthusiastic about transportation history, so allow me. But, one more thing, this place isn't a bar, repeat not a bar. You cannot buy alcohol here. Still reading? Great!

The actual museum is actually a huge warehouse type building and blends into the industrial area that houses this site. We (my son and I) started our self-guided tour outdoors with a 10 minute train ride (basically just up and down a track, but your kids will pee themselves with delight, trust me), then spent a good solid hour or more exploring the retired freight and passenger trains lined up in the "yard". I loved the fact that you could just wander in and out of these old, beautiful trains imagining what it would have been like to travel on them. Funner still is seeing all the areas you normally wouldn't have access to as a passenger like the porters rooms or kitchen areas.  And did you know that on certain Amtrak trains, your seat-side table actually doubles as the cover for your personal toilet, ingenious right?

Inside you will find more examples of older trains and a very cool restoration project in progress on the private train car used by President William G. Harding. You can check out exhibits of memorabilia including a model train, uniforms, tools and more. If that still don't get your engine boiling take a moment to immerse yourself in the old depot replica and think about how much communication and planning it must have taken to keep things "on track" before cellphones and computers.

There are loads of places to eat in the area (check out the Super H Mart), but nothing inside the museum except for some snacks and drink machines.

Obviously, kids will love the old-school approach and maybe you can even convince them that real trains aren't supposed to have faces and talk. As for you non-parents and miscellaneous adults, don't write this place off as merely a kids destination, there is plenty of grown-up appeal and opportunities for exploring, snapping some cool photos, or inserting yourself into an Agatha Christie type storyline.

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