Categories: Arts & Culture; History & Heritage; Local Highlights
All aboard for Lionel Trains Central Station. Learn the hundred-year-plus history behind model electric trains and about the man who invented them, and see one of the most elaborate electric train layouts ever assembled. The center has a 52-foot display of historical artifacts and memorabilia (rare prototype train models, old advertisements, etc.), but the highlight is definitely the 14' x 40' operating layout featuring 10 trains running simultaneously and pushbutton accessories that visitors get to maneuver. There's a 6' x 8' children's layout where kids can take turns being engineer, too. The tour also includes a 10-minute video on the production of model trains and a brief company history.
Founder Joshua Lionel Cowen built a company whose products became a staple of American boyhood.
Admission is free. Tours are offered: Wednesday and Thursday at 10 AM, 3 PM, and 4 PM; Friday at 10 AM, 1:30 PM, and 2:30 PM, and Saturday at 10 AM, 11 AM and 12 noon. Closed on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and holidays. Please call 586/949-4100 (ext. 1211) for tour reservations. For more information on the Lionel Trains Visitor Center, click here.
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