The Choo Choo Barn - Strasburg, PA

Opening Day – March 10, 2012

Kristi — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:10:02 +0000

Opening Day is right around the corner! Join as we begin our 51st season on March 10. If you’ve been keeping up with us on Facebook and YouTube, you know that Tom has been hard at work (as usual) cleaning and improving the layout! Tom estimates that nearly 90% of the vehicles around the display now have working tail and headlights, which will greatly enhance the Nighttime scene. And don’t forget Tom’s latest animation – the Tree House! Click to see a sneak preview of it in action!
For lots more updates and Behind the Scenes information, visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/choochoobarn. (Remember, you don’t have to have a Facebook account to see our page.)
We hope to see you this season! If you stop in, ask for Tom – he’d love to know that you’ve been following our progress!

From the Workshop

Kristi — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:12:57 +0000

January is here which means it’s time for me to shift gears and get ready to design and construct new animations and buildings for the display. I have a list of new ideas that will once again “choke a horse”, many of which I won’t get finished, let alone get started. There are also a bunch of “tweaks” that need done that I’ve noticed throughout the year. I’ll try to document them here instead of a separate blog like I did in the past. Of course, we’ll also be posting to FaceBook and making more videos for YouTube. I’ve talked to quite a few visitors this year that really enjoyed my videos so I plan to do as many of them as I can.

My first job is to once again clean my workshop before I can get to work. I spent a lot of evenings and weekends prior to Thanksgiving on Christmas decorations to put on the display for the Christmas season. According to comments on FaceBook and from our visitors at the Choo Choo Barn, our work was a hit. If you visit between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, you’ll get to see the changes. But come next March, all the Christmas decorations come off, the snow gets vacuumed up and the display returns to summer. (I heard a comment that there’s snow on the ground and the people are in the swimming pool. Haven’t you ever heard of heated water?)

So keep coming back and I’ll try to keep you up to date. Watch our FaceBook pages and YouTube channel, too.

Our Christmas Display is just around the corner!

Kristi — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:44:49 +0000

Tom is ready to decorate the layout for Christmas! We can wait to see what he has in store. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates!

Don’t forget that the Choo Choo Barn layout will be closed tomorrow and Thursday (11/23 & 24). We will see you on Friday!

23rd Annual Canned Food Fridays

Kristi — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:34:21 +0000

Canned Food Fridays is just around the corner! Visit the Choo Choo Barn December 2, 9, and 16 when admission to our layout is FREE with a donation of at least one non-perishable food item! This special event runs from 10am-8pm, with Santa visiting from 3-8pm. For more details, visit http:www.choochoobarn.com/cff.

Christmas comes to the Choo Choo Barn!

Kristi — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:34:49 +0000

The Choo Choo Barn’s 50th birthday falls on Thanksgiving day of this year so this was an obvious excuse to do something very special for all of our fans as a thank you for your many years of support.

We invite you to celebrate the season and our 50th anniversary as the Choo Choo Barn transforms Traintown USA® to bring the magic of Christmas to its gigantic model train display. For the first time ever, the homes and businesses along the tracks have decked their halls to share with the public from November 25 to December 31, 2011.

This is an idea that Tom has been tossing around for years – what would it be like to decorate the layout for Christmas? So for the past two years, he’s been collecting ideas these past three months has been working nonstop to create small scenes and festive touches for the layout. We will be closed November 23 and 24 so that he can transform the layout into a winter wonderland…in just two days!

Starting November 25, search for the 50 hidden Santas and watch as Santa’s sleigh flies above the 1,700 square foot model train extravaganza, which includes 150 hand-built animations and 22 moving trains. Enjoy the holiday decorations throughout the display including holiday lights and the snow-covered landscape. Plus, take a close look at the zoo animals in Traintown to see how they’re getting into the holiday spirit.

This is a special event in honor of our 50th birthday in 2011 – and depending on its popularity, it could become a yearly tradition! So mark your calendar and plan to visit November 25 – December 31!

Welcome to our new site!

Kristi — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:08:02 +0000

It’s our birthday so we decided to give ourselves a present – a new website! We’ll be updating it with lots more photos and fun features, so check back often to see what’s new! You can also stay informed by liking us on Facebook – there are lots of ways to stay on top of what’s Continue Reading