This report continues our time at EnterTRAINment Junction, and starts to really get into the detail of the train displays. Our first part detailed the elaborate lobby and other various areas of the building. Now we start to get into the good parts. You start off the self-guided tour in the early years, chronicling the 1860s to 1900s. Rather than get into too much detail, I will try and let the pictures speak for themselves and highlight where necessary.

1) EnterTRAINment Junction: A Fantastic Train Experience for the Family
2) EnterTRAINment Junction: The Early Years (1860s-1900s)
3) EnterTRAINment Junction’s Children’s Imagination Junction Play Area
4) EnterTRAINment Junction: The Middle Period of Railroading (1940s-1950s)
5) EnterTRAINment Junction: The Modern Period (1970s-Present)

The first thing that caught me off guard at first was the scale of the layouts. Growing up, I was used to “O” scale since my father collected Lionel trains. Instead, these layouts were “G” scale, which is substantially larger. For reference, each train car is approximately the size of a loaf of bread. As my father pointed out, the larger the scale, the less maintenance the trains would require, even though they run everyday. In addition, everything was computer controlled, allowing each train to “rest” during the day and not run non-stop. As we made our way through the displays, I began to really appreciate the scale of the layouts in the larger size.

During our time in the Early Years, we got stuck in the night time sequence, where all the lights dim to simulate night fall. I think my dad said it was 5 minutes of light/15 minutes of day.

You really had to look close to really discover lots of hidden scenes. Each building had their own details inside that were fascinating to peer inside and see.

I know you can not exactly tell from the pictures, but realize there is real water flowing through the rivers and lakes. It was an incredible detail to give a sense of realism, and was an added level of complexity to construct. Not only did the water need to flow and not leak out into the surroundings and onto the floor, but also the models needed to be able to withstand water from deteriorating their components.

Real water flowing through the stream.	Timber!

I should also mention that guests can grab a scavenger hunt sheet at the ticket booth to search for items throughout the display. During our visit, some of the Easter bunnies and eggs were still present and Bug loved searching for them with my father.

I thought chickens could not fly.

While I did not get a picture of it, there was also a cool display right outside of the children’s play area that was a cut away inside the mountain, which detailed and modeled how the workers would have reinforced the tunnels for safety. It was a really cool detail.

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After a four (4) hour drive from Cleveland, first up on our weekend Cincinnati adventure, EnterTRAINment Junction. As you may recall, our family has been wanting to visit this 25,000 SF indoor train mecca for about a year. Then, like clockwork, Groupon came to the rescue, and offered up two (2) all-access passes for $14, saving our family a little over half off.

1) EnterTRAINment Junction: A Fantastic Train Experience for the Family
2) EnterTRAINment Junction: The Early Years (1860s-1900s)
3) EnterTRAINment Junction’s Children’s Imagination Junction Play Area
4) EnterTRAINment Junction: The Middle Period of Railroading (1940s-1950s)
5) EnterTRAINment Junction: The Modern Period (1970s-Present)

We were very fortunate that my parents drove all the way down to meet us at EnterTRAINment Junction, since our boys love my father’s train layout. Bug and Lan-Shark just can not get enough of the trains, so they were really excited to meet my parents at the Junction.

EnterTRAINment Junction is located at 7379 Squire Court, West Chester, Ohio 45069, conveniently right off of the freeway. The building has an ample, new parking lot, although right off the bat we realized it may be crowded since there was also a train show that weekend. The facility was located inside a new looking building tucked in a commercial district.

Once inside, my first impression was surprise! Why? Because the inside was beautifully detailed and made up like a village, and for a moment I felt like I was inside an elaborate themed casino, and half expected to hear the slot machines in the background, but instead it was train whistles. Inside was brick paved roads, buildings with various offerings, and both EnterTRAINment Junction and the A-Maze-n Funhouse.

First up, well after diaper changes for the adults and potty breaks for the toddlers, was to check out the train show. My father has been a long time member of the Train Collector’s Association (TCA), which was also hosting the show. I felt like I was a kid again, where we spent a great many weekends at train shows, often selling. After quickly walking around the tables, we made our way over to some of the less elaborate train layouts on display. It was a fun time to learn about my father’s old hobby, but the greatest enjoyment came from seeing my boys enjoy trains with my dad.

You will notice the one display is owned by Neil Young, the rock-n-roll singer, who had dedicated his display to EnterTRAINment Junction. Neil has been a lifelong train enthusiasts, and actually owned a portion of Lionel. While definitely not as detailed as the layouts we were about to see, it was cool knowing that Neil Young had played around with the layout right in front of us.

EnterTRAINment Junction is run by a tremendous group of dedicated volunteers, who spend countless hours bringing reality to life in miniature scale. The building is also home to the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Railway Historic Society.

Since these reports are going to get very picture heavy, I will be breaking up the reports into smaller pieces. Tomorrow we will enter into the heart of EnterTRAINment Junction and highlight the Early Period of Railroading 1860s – 1900s.

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