For 26 years, the Washington State History Museum has brought families, friends, and train enthusiasts together for its annual Model Train Festival. Train clubs from around the region bring their expansive layouts into the museum and set up on every floor of the building, and the festive sights and sounds of tiny trains fill the air, mingling with the excited exclamations of visitors.
“The Model Train Festival generates so much joy,” shared the Historical Society’s director, Jennifer Kilmer.“ It’s an honor to meet visitors who have come to the festival as kids and now are back bringing their own children, and it is delightful to experience this event through the eyes of our visitors. People of all ages really have fun watching the trains and noticing all of the incredible details in the layouts.”
Eight different model railroad layouts will be featured throughout the museum, and train clubs will be on hand to talk with visitors. Operation Lifesaver will also be there to provide information about safety around railroad crossings, and the Morse Telegraph Club will bring equipment and demonstrate how land-line telegraphs were used to communicate between train stations and across the country.
New this year, visitors can watch, “I Love Toy Trains” and “I Love Big Trains” from filmmaker Tom McComas, with songs by James Coffey, on the big screen in the museum’s auditorium. The museum’s fun and festive mascot, Seymour History, will make a special appearance (see www.ModelTrainFesitval.org for the schedule). A train depot photo setting offers the perfect opportunity to capture memories.
The Model Train Festival opens on Friday, December 16, 2022, and operates daily from 10 AM-5 PM through January 1, 2023. Note the museum will be closed on December 24 and 25, and will be open on January 1.
Members of the Washington State Historical Society enjoy free admission, and a special member night held on December 17. General admission visitors can experience the Model Train Festival at the regular museum rates, along with seeing the other exhibitions on view. Get all the details at www.ModelTrainFestival.org.
All images: Courtesy Washington State Historical Society.