Today we have a parent review from Ashley Jansen. She and her younger boys recently visited The Southeastern Railway Museum
My family has been a big fan of the Southeastern Railway Museum for years now. My now 9 year old son had his 2nd birthday party there where we rented the party car and it was fantastic!! I took my 2 year old and 5 year old and his friend this past week. The museum opens at 10 a.m. and we got there right at opening to avoid the heat. Although a lot of the rail cars are inside a warehouse-type structure, it is not air conditioned. We left on the west-side of Cumming and it took us a solid 40 minutes to drive there.
There is a historic diesel train ride that the boys loved. The train whistle blew many times and we even lucked out with a real long train drive by on our ride. You are on the train for about 20 minutes. The current departing times for the train are: 10:40, 11:30, 1:00, 2:30, and 3:10.
Unfortunately, the park train ride is under repair (with the rains earlier this spring the train got flooded) and will not be back working until after Labor Day. When it is working, this small (think fair ride) train ride was so fun – went pretty fast and took three really long loops around the track.
The tip I would provide is to get there as close to 10:00 as you can. Tour the train cars in the warehouse (which took us right up to the 10:40 train ride). Ride the train. Tour the remaining buses and train cars under the pavilion. We were in the car heading home about 11:45.
Some of the trains take some climbing to get into. The 5 year olds were fine doing it on their own, but I was lifting and carrying my 2 year old throughout. I would not say it is handicapped accessible in that those in a wheel-chair or that need assistance walking there is no other way to see the inside of the cars without climbing the stairs. It is stroller friendly in that there are sidewalks around all the cars, but again to get the child into the train car you would have to climb up with the child in your arms.
Please note they are only open Wednesday thru Saturday from 10:00-5:00. Adults are $10 (65+ is $8). Children are $7. Under 2 is Free. Train rides are $3 per person (under 2 is Free).
Everyone who works there is a volunteer and are so friendly and helpful. They love to answer questions and talk about the trains to the kids. They started offering a preschool program the second Thursday of every month. The details can be found on their website if you are interested.
I highly recommend this outing! My son said on the way home, “Mommy, I loved that place. It was so so fun!”
More About Ashley:
Ashley Jansen is wife of 14 years to Mark and mom to three boys, Hamilton (9), Luke (5), and Garrett (2). Originally from Texas, she has lived in Forsyth County for the last 13 years. She loves Mexican food, watching football and baseball, reading a good book, making Excel spreadsheets, and prefers candy over chocolate and Dr. Pepper over Coke.
She and her husband are active in Browns Bridge Church serving as adult small group leaders, 2to1 premarital mentors, and GroupLink connectors. She also serves as Coordinator of the local Cumming class of Community Bible Study and on the Advisory Team of Titus2 Mentoring Women. She is a recent breast cancer survivor, but still prefers purple over pink.
To learn more about Ashley and our other contributing writers, click here.
