Entertrainment Junction Blog

Let me tell you about our Expo Room...

2010-06-25T13:13:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since anything has been done on this blog, but here we are with another post, hopefully to give you some more insight into our little operation out here in West Chester, Ohio.

Today, I'd like to tell you all about our Expo Room. For those of you familiar with our attraction, you may pass by it and wonder just what it is, why we have it, and most importantly, why it isn't open to the public. Well I'm here right now to show and tell you the answers to those questions.

All the way back in the beginning of the EnterTRAINment Junction project, when it was still in its earliest stages of conception, one of the main goals of the facility was to promote model railroading in all scales, not just G scale. (G scale is the scale of the main train display.) To this end, the Expo Room was included in the design of the facility. The Expo Room was going to be a large open room where we would put modular train displays belonging to local model railroad clubs. The clubs would have a sort of "base camp" where they could set up, work on, and even run their modular displays, and we would be able to offer exhibition of these displays to our guests. Unfortunately, it hasn't quite worked out that way, and instead the Expo Room has been put to other uses. As you can see in the above photo, we currently have many chairs set up in a sort of meeting style arrangement. Local groups and societies can use the space to hold any sort of meeting they might like to have. We have also used the room to house banquets, trains swap meets, and model engineering shows.

In the earliest days of this room's existence, it was completely devoted to the volunteer workshop. Now the volunteer work area has been downsized and does not even cover half the area it once did. The wood and metal shops have been moved to the warehouse area, and as you can see in the pictures above, the volunteer work area in the expo room is where trees, figures, and models are made. It is also where the test track is set up for testing new control systems. This area is separated from the rest of the Expo Room by a half-wall that runs across the middle of the room.

The Expo Room also provides access to the Cincinnati chapter of the National Railway Historical Society's headquarters and Library. Pictured above is the entrance to their library, connected to the Expo Room. Above the door in the photo is the drum head used on the tail end of many an NRHS sponsored train excursion.

Pictured above are two items of note which can be found in our Expo Room. The first is the old control console taken out of Cincinnati's Queensgate rail yard. This was where the Yard Master would have sat and managed the operation of the hump yard. It was given to us by the Cincinnati Railroad Club. The bell in front of the console mounted to the black stand was purchased from an anonymous collector. It is off of an Illinois Central steam locomotive, number 2543. It was a "Mountain" type locomotive, built in Paducah, KY around 1941. The lower picture is of a model which was used in the design and construction of the train display. It's sort of humorous to think that we have a model of our model railroad.

Now, let's get back to the reason the Expo Room exists in the first place: more model railroad displays. We do have three stand alone model railroad displays in the Expo Room. Of the three, two belong to EnterTRAINment Junction, and the third is set up according to the original intention of the space. That is to say that the first model railroad I'm going to tell you about, the Dalmatian Switching District, belongs to a group of individuals who have it set up in our Expo Room so they may work on it. Once it is in good working order, it will be taken to train shows all around the area. It is an HO scale railroad, and unlike most displays you see at train shows, it is intended to be operated like a real railroad, switching cars in a train yard and industrial sidings, instead of simply featuring trains constantly running around in circles. The main man behind the Dalmatian Switching District is Dave Decker, seen on the right in the photo below. The other two gentlemen are two of our volunteers, watching Dave work on his layout. The Dalmatian Switching District, much like EnterTRAINment Junction itself, exists to promote the hobby of model railroading. Dave encourages newcomers to take the controls of his layout and learn all about how model railroading can be interactive and fun. Look for the Dalmatian Switching District to start making appearances at train shows this fall.

The next layout I'd like to tell you about was donated to us by the Indianapolis Children's Museum. It features three-rail, O Scale trains running through a whimsical winter wonderland on it's way to the North Pole. This layout, although permanently set up in our Expo Room, is part of our Christmas at the Junction celebration, and is only operated during the Christmas season. It was originally constructed over a decade ago by Applied Imagination's Paul Busse. Paul Busse is known all over the country and the world for his unique and enthralling train displays. He and his company travel the country setting up their displays at public shows, businesses, and botanical gardens, as well as building private layouts for individuals and companies. Be sure to swing by this Holiday Season and check out the Winter Wonderland Express layout at EnterTRAINment Junction.

The third and final train display set up in our Expo Room is the O scale layout given to us by famed folk musician Neil Young. Neil Young has always been a fan of trains, and especially Lionel trains, so much so that he had a portable train layout built for the express purpose of taking on tour with him around the country. He has since decided to part with his layout, and at the urging of the layout's builder, donated it to us. (It was either coming to us or going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.) The man who built the display is the same gentleman who constructed our middle period city, and is currently working on rebuilding our modern period city. We are quite honored to have this layout, and we are anxiously looking forward to the day we open up our Expo Room for the public to enjoy. Below are photos of the Neil Young layout nearing completion. Click here to see a photo of the layout very near total completion, as it is at the time of this writing.

So, as for why our Expo Room is not open to the public, well, it's not quite ready yet. However, it's not far from ready, either. Sometime in the next few months we should have the Neil Young layout and the Indianapolis Children's Museum layout both operating on timers activated by push buttons, ready for the enjoyment of our guests. So be sure to come by and look for the Expo Room to finally be up, running, and open in the not-too-distant future!

Be sure to check out our Facebook page, and if you have any questions or comments, you can post them here on this blog or on our Facebook page. Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you soon!

What is Jack-O-Lantern Junction?

2009-10-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

When first time Halloween season visitors arrive at our ticket window, and we offer them our combo ticket allowing them admission to Jack-O-Lantern Junction, they often ask us, "What is Jack-O-Lantern Junction?" This week's post is an attempt to answer that question as thoroughly as I can.

Here at EnterTRAINment Junction, we have two big attractions for the amusement of our guests. The main attraction is the EnterTRAINment Journey, which is our train display, kid's play area, and railroading museum. (Look for an in-depth post asking, "What is the EnterTRAINment Journey" in the coming weeks...) The other attraction we offer changes with the seasons. For that reason we refer to it as our Seasonal Journey. During the Halloween season, from roughly the middle of September to the beginning of November, the Seasonal Journey becomes Jack-O-Lantern Junction by day, and Junction Nightmare by night, on the weekends. (Look for "What is Junction Nightmare?" next week, or later this week!)

Junction Nightmare is a full-fledged, terrifying haunted walk-through, complete with actors, dramatic lighting, intense sound effects, automated scares, and much more. It is intended for teenagers and adults, and as you can imagine, would not be the friendliest environment for young children. So during the daylight hours, the lights are turned on, the scary details are covered up, fun children's music is played, and the candy is set out. Jack-O-Lantern Junction allows our youngest guests of all to enjoy the fun of Halloween, without the scary monsters, lights, or sound effects.

When you first enter Jack-O-Lantern Junction, you are invited to take one of our trick-or-treat goodie bags. As you walk through the attraction, you will come to various stations where candy is set out, waiting to be enjoyed by children of any age.

In the middle of all of it is a place where the kids, or adults, can sit and do some coloring on one of our coloring sheets, or they can take some home with them to work on later.

And of course, as I said earlier, everything scary is covered up, and the theme for the whole walk through is very fun and whimsical.

And after you get through the first half where the candy and fun decorations are, you go one through the second half of our Seasonal Journey, which for now is the same as our summertime Funhouse Junction, including the mirror maze, vortex tunnel, chain-link maze, curtain maze, and more!

And that's a little taste of Jack-O-Lantern Junction! Jack-O-Lantern Junction operates from 11am to 5pm everyday. So bring the little ones and come on out for some old fashioned, silly, Halloween fun!

Remember to check back here every week for all sorts of topics of interest. Next will be an in-depth exploration of Junction Nightmare! Look for that before the end of the week, but for subsequent updates to happen somewhere around the middle of the week. Some ideas I have lined up for future blog posts include a profile of our president and owner, a look at John Mackay's Mighty Small Circus, currently on display here at EnterTRAINment Junction, and a sneak peak into our new hobby shop!

Let me what you think, and we all look forward to seeing you here soon!

Revamping the Blog!

2009-10-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

I know that our little blog here has not been getting the attention it should. I intend to change that, starting now. I intend to update our blog once a week with interesting and in-depth stories about various facets of EnterTRAINment Junction. I hope that those of you who already follow us will enjoy reading the new and improved blog. I also hope to garner as many new followers as I can.

My goal here is not to shamelessly plug the Junction with catchy tag lines and good deals, but to bring our followers into the world of EnterTRAINment Junction, to make you feel like a member of our family. I want to share the everyday goings on that make EnterTRAINment Junction the family oriented, down-to-earth, enjoyable experience for the whole family that it is!

So check back soon and be looking for the first entry in the new and improved EnterTRAINment Junction Blog! And be sure to tell your blogging friends and family to check us out. I shall do my best to provide everyone with a quality and interesting story every week.

Have a good day, and dontt forget that we're on Facebook and Twitter!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/EnterTRAINmentJunction?ref=ts

http://twitter.com/EnterTRAINmentJ

Additions to the Train Display!!

2009-06-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

We now have two trains running on both modern period main lines, and we're adding details and a new building or two to the middle period city.

In the coming weeks we also expect to have three trains running on each of the two middle period main lines, with passenger trains that stop in the station, while freight trains pass on through.

Come check out these additions, and all the other changes we're making to the train display this summer at EnterTRAINment Junction!

This June at EnterTRAINment Junction!

2009-06-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Come in any day between June 1st and July 5th and receive a free ticket to Coney Island's Sunlite Pool with the purchase of any regular priced Coach Class Combo Ticket!

That's right! You get admission to two great Cincinnati area attractions for the price of one! Cool off indoors watching the trains on the World's Largest Indoor Model Train Display at EnterTRAINment Junction, then cool off outdoors in Coney Island's Sunlite Pool!

That's two great ways to keep cool this June, with EnterTRAINment Junction and Coney Island!

Don't forget Kid's Express is open and operating everyday (weather permitting), where kids get to be the engineer and drive their very own hand-crank powered train around our outdoor train track!

See you soon at EnterTRAINment Junction!

Welcome

2009-05-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the EnterTRAINment Junction Blog. Hope to see you here often.