Museums
Great places to allow your mind to expand
Nixon Library Visit 1/8/2010
Trains Page One - Trains Page Two - Apollo And Christmas Trees Page Three
This exhibit is one of the largest ever created and is called "A Holiday Festival of Trains". It features a incredible landscape of more than 100 trains traveling through snow covered villages and wintry mountain scenes. Also on display is the Lilly Belle, the miniature steam locomotive built in 1949 by Walt Disney which had been enjoyed in his backyard. This display is on loan from the Disney Family. Additional displays include the "Towers of Trains" featuring 12-feet tall multi-tiered platforms with more than 1000 feet of track. The "Wall of Trains" display features more than 60 vintage model train engines. Another exhibit is sections from the first Disneyland Monorail, dedicated by then Vice President Richard Nixon in 1956. A section dedicated to the 1960 Presidential campaign whistlestop platform used by candidate Richard Nixon. Also a rare combination of six gauges favored by collectors together in one exhibit, including G, standard, O, S, ON30 and HO-gauges. This and plenty more would be seen. It should be quite an amazing collection to be seen by one and all.
- Enjoy a sensational LEGO train display with LEGO's famous Emerald Night Train.
- Thrill to a warm Christmas Village featuring Department 56 model buildings.
- Enjoy great train classics from the magnificent American Flyer and Sante Fe Super Chief, to the playful Polar Express and Thomas the Tank Engine.
- See pieces of the Blue and Red Monorail trains used at Disneyland in the '50s, plus photos of the Monorail grand opening and ribbon cutting by Walt Disney and Vice President Nixon..
- Shooby Dooby Down to Ruby's Diner for a FREE buildable train and a discount coupon for admission to the Holiday Festival of Trains.
- Created by the Train Collectors Association.
- Presented by the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum and the Richard Nixon Foundation. Ruby's Diner serves as the Proud Partner of The Holiday Festival of Trains.
Let's Visit The Trains
Lego Trains Were In The Main Entry
Did you know? - Lego Train is a theme in the Lego Group products. The sets include locomotives, tracks, rolling stock, trackside buildings (such as stations, signal houses, etc).
Non Lego Trains
Wow!
The layout touched the ceiling
Did you know? - Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin (MÄRKLIN or MAERKLIN in capital letters) is a German toy company, founded in 1859. Although it originally specialised in doll house accessories, today it is best known for model railways and technical toys. In some parts of Germany, the company's name is almost synonymous with model railroads. Märklin filed for bankruptcy on 4 February 2009.
The Märklin system is the technique of using a third rail concealed in the roadbed with only small studs protruding through the ties of the track. The two outer rails are connected electrically. This provides the simplified wiring enjoyed by larger gauges—such as for reverse loops—without seriously detracting from the realism of the track because only two of the rails are visible. Because the two outer rails are not electrically isolated from each other, however, some do not consider Märklin's system to be a true three-rail system.
Did you know? - In 1928, the Lionel Corporation created one of the best loved accessories in the model railroading hobby. Today, an original version is a collector's dream.
Lionel's Heligate Bridge was a faithful replica of the arched bridge spanning New York's East River built in 1917. Properly known as the East River Arch Bridge, the Hellgate Bridge acquired its nickname because of the dangerous, swirling currents it passes over.
Sue examines the large Hellsgate bridge
The Marklin Bridge
The Blue Comet
Did you know? - Introduced in 1930, The Blue Comet is a Lionel Standard Gauge model of the actual Blue Comet excursion train designed to carry New Yorkers and Jersey City residents to a weekend of fun and pleasure at Atlantic City. At the time, the Blue Comet was Lionel's finest steam locomotive. It is quite a collector's train in that it encapsulates the state of the art in Standard Gauge model trains from the pre-war period. With the greater detail and realism that became typical of later pre-war trains, The Blue Comet has passenger cars with overhead interior illumination, swiveling seats, lavatories, doors with working hinges, in other words, the works; plus a removable roof allowing you to enjoy and appreciate the miniature details and realism.
The trains were really moving along!
The G-Scale Setup Was In The Corner
Trains Page One - Trains Page Two - Apollo And Christmas Trees Page Three