THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 28, 1994 TAG: 9406290600
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATHY WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940628 LENGTH: Medium
When hot, humid days make the beach and the neighborhood playground miserable places to visit, consider chugging into the world of miniature with a trip to South Hampton Roads' mecca of railroading.
{REST} The Lancaster Train and Old Toy Museum, in Mike's Trainland in northern Suffolk, bills itself as the largest such museum in the mid-Atlantic region. The museum has more than 400 trains.
And it is those trains that mesmerize us as we dash in from the wilting heat of a June afternoon.
Admission to the train museum is free, but donations are welcome. Slide a quarter into a metal box at one end of a display and you'll set off a chain reaction of trains bolting into action. They lurch to a stop as passengers board and freight is loaded on. Criss-crossing trains run their course behind Plexiglass protectors about 3 feet off the ground.
Tooting, whirring, ring-a-ding-ding trains shoot through tunnels and over mountainous, picturesque scenes, transporting visitors into a world of miniature make believe.
A favorite with the kids - reminiscent of The Little Engine That Could - is a train carrying circus animals. Trains zoom amid a landscape of workers putting up tents and readying for the circus. Animals are practicing in the rings. Will Barnum & Bailey open on time? Sure will, as long as we have quarters to spend.
A half-hour of train action was about our limit, but then it was time for the kids to do a little dreaming of their own.
We had hurried into the train museum, ushering the kids past the toy store in the front called Trainland. Modern-day toys call out to our miniature admirers.
Trains whir overhead, winding their way through displays of toys - all for sale. Our kids are intrigued with the tiny farm toys - tractors and plows they don't find in mall toy stores.
Expect to spend a few hours at the train museum and toy store. And if you don't plan to buy any new toys, start practicing the ``no'' word now. The toys will be very hard to resist.
The train museum is behind George and Steve's Steak House, a good place to pop in for a quick sandwich before returning home. Or if you want to let the kids burn off some energy, stop at the McDonald's on U.S. Route 17 South (about 3 miles from Trainland). The ball pit play area is inside - air-conditioned bliss.
To get to Trainland, take Route 17 north. Turn left at Shoulder Hill Road, behind George and Steve's Steak House. For more information, call 484-4224. Ask about train rides at the adjacent railroad park.
by CNB