National Toy Train Museum 4.8 (reviews)

It's time to make your way to the station because we're off to spend a day at the National Toy Train Museum! Spend your next family day out exploring hundreds of toy trains housed in a modern museum built like a historic train station. Sounds pretty cool to us!

The National Toy Train Museum recreates a family "train room," but on a larger scale. The building is designed to resemble a Victorian-Era California railroad station. It is located in the fertile farm country of Lancaster County, PA, so kids can learn about history AND see some pretty cool models and exhibits!

Did you know that the National Toy Train Museum contains one of the most extensive toy train collections in the world? The collection includes trains that children pushed, pulled, or rode upon—so parents, you might get your own trip down memory lane as you explore the collection. 

The collection also includes miniature trains that are accurate replicas of their full-sized counterparts, which can help kids really understand the intricacies of these locomotives. Plus, you get to take a trip through the tracks of the history books as the Museum exhibits trains from the mid-1800s through the present day.

Every visitor can help operate the seven train layouts within the museum. There are five large layouts, and each one represents a different gauge and portrays a different period of the 20th Century. These layouts also boast a fascinating array of period accessories and extensive scenery, and everything is set up to allow even the youngest visitors to have an excellent view of the action! 

Check out our operating LEGO® display, too--a must for those who like bricks in addition to locomotion.

And if all of the above wasn't enough to fill your family day with locomotive fun, train-related videos run continuously on a large-screen television in the lobby (along with a good old-fashioned wooden toy train table!).

So grab those conductor hats, kids, because the National Toy Train Museum is ready and waiting to depart the station, but they want you to join them!

Choo choo!