Holiday train exhibit in 65th year, moves to Cincinnati Museum Center

Holiday Junction trains are exhibiting through Jan. 1, 2012 at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. The exhibit is in its 65th year.

James Sprague/Contributing photographer Holiday Junction trains are exhibiting through Jan. 1, 2012 at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. The exhibit is in its 65th year.

ENLARGE PHOTO

James Sprague/Contributing Writer Holiday Junction trains are exhibiting through Jan. 1, 2012 at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. The exhibit is in its 65th year.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Mandy Gambrell/Contributing photographer Holiday Junction trains are exhibiting through Jan. 1, 2012 at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. The exhibit is in its 65th year.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By James Sprague, Contributing Writer 11:35 AM Wednesday, November 9, 2011

CINCINNATI — A long-standing Cincinnati train display has left the station to bring holiday cheer to both young and old.

The Duke Energy Holiday Train display opened for its 65th year Saturday at its new location in the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, as part of the museum’s “Holiday Junction exhibit featuring the Duke Energy Holiday Trains.”

It is the first year for the train display at the museum, after previously being located since 1946 in the lobby at the Duke Energy building in downtown Cincinnati.

The new location allows the display to have a permanent home with the space to accommodate it, said Johann Reeder, vice president of community relations for Duke Energy.

“It is a wonderful partnership that gives our historic trains a permanent home at Cincinnati Museum Center,” Reeder said. “We know this will be a great place for people of all ages to see them for many holiday seasons to come.”

The train display is one of the largest portable model railroads in the world, measuring 36 ½ feet by 47 ½ feet long, and is an “O” gauge model, meaning that every quarter inch on the model train is equal to one foot on a real train.

The display’s new location in the Cincinnati Museum Center also allows it to be part of a bigger exhibit at the museum featuring a collection of Lionel trains, other model train layouts, a child-sized train for children to ride, a gift shop offering train memorabilia and a children’s play area.

The Duke Energy train display adds another facet to the museum’s Holiday Junction exhibit, said Douglass W. McDonald, president and chief executive officer of Cincinnati Museum Center.

“We are privileged to welcome the Duke Energy Holiday Trains to Cincinnati Museum Center and Union Terminal,” McDonald said. “This display is a vital part of Cincinnati’s history and one that delights families across the generations. It is an honor for Museum Center to be the guardians and care takers of this key Cincinnati tradition.

“What makes this tradition that much stronger is that we can add to it our display of historic trains, the breathtaking OMNIMAX film ‘Rocky Mountain Express’ and the palpable magic of Union Terminal,” he said.

Contact this writer at spragoo1977@yahoo.com.

How to go

What: Duke Energy Holiday Train display

Where: Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, 1301 Western Ave., Cincinnati

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday; through Jan. 1, 2012.

Cost: Free to Cincinnati Museum Center members. Four free admissions to Duke Energy customers with voucher from October bill, through Dec. 24. Non-members: $8.50 per adult, $6.50 per child (children under age one are free). Parking: $6.  Note: There is a small train ride for children near the exhibit. Rides are $1 per child, credit cards accepted.

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