Kids on the Go – Southeastern Railway Museum, Duluth, GA

My husband and I love exploring new and familiar places with our boys. What better way to have fun than to go out and see the world through their eyes. We always find it exciting to see the joy in their faces with the places we go. My oldest loves trains as a lot of kids do. We took the boys to Day Out With Thomas here in the USA last fall and they loved it. So one night I googled train museums and found this, The Southeastern Railway Museum which was located in Duluth Georgia. http://www.srmduluth.org/about/planning.shtml.  This was great for us living in Georgia. I then set out to plan our trip.

The Southeastern Railway Museum is open different days of the week depending on the season. It is best to check the website or call (770) 476-2013 before planning a trip.

Hours of operation are listed as 10 am to 5pm. The day we went they didn’t open till 10:30am.

Pricing for tickets are $8 adults, children 2-12yrs $5, and under 2yr are free.

There is a train ride listed on the website that you can ride for a fee but was not available the day we went. From reading it seems this is only offered certain days of the week. The train we saw there that you could ride was a little train like the one we have at our zoo in Atlanta. Big enough for adults but not a full size train.

Parking is free in a large gravel area in the front of the museum building.

Location is an old industrial site so they suggest you wear appropriate shoes, meaning closed toe. I would suggest that you keep a close eye on your children and not let them run off or around on their own. There is a lot of gravel outside and the train cars do have some rough areas and dirt/dust in some spots in a few of the cars.

Also outside the gate of the museum is a working railway that trains use. We got to see a train coming down the track that day which was a plus for my oldest son:-) I am not saying you can not go and have a safe time because you can. We did and really enjoyed ourselves but children( especially if small like mine) need to be looked after to keep them safe at this museum.

There are a lot of things to see outside, under a covered area and in the building. Be prepared for a lot of walking and getting up and down from train cars and other transportation vehicles out there. We had a then 9 mo. and took the stroller but we had to get him out a lot. It wasn’t hard to push the stroller around but we did have to leave it parked outside the train cars when we went in to look.

The museum building does have a nice bathroom and gift shop but no place to eat. I would suggest bringing a packed lunch or going to a place near by and eating before or after your visit.

Extra information, for a fee they do offer birthday party packages for you to have a birthday in a train car and also offer the area for a fee for you to bring in a photographer for pictures. They also have events there throughout the year so I would suggest looking at the event calendar online to plan your trip. You may find an event you want to attend.

We went in February 2012 to the Southeastern Railway Museum with our 3 yr and 9 mo sons. We had a really nice time and my 3yr still talks about it and can’t wait to go back for another visit. The staff was friendly and willing to give you information on the museum. It was not crowded and we had most of the train cars to ourselves while we looked. By the time we were leaving there were more people there than when we started. But we never had a hard time looking around and enjoying what was there to be seen.

This picture shows the entrance leading up to the museum. Parking is in the front here and the building to the left has things for you to enjoy: gift shop, train cars to look at, lots of cases with displayed information and old artifacts. They have several displays set up to show you old railway stations. There is also an old fire truck and taxi to look at in the building. There is a room with a model train for the kids to watch go around the table with a button to push for some extra sound effects (train whistle, thunder…) This was one of Liam’s favorite things out here. The bathrooms are in this building and more. The covered area to the right has old transportation vehicles like some old Marta buses etc… Along the side to the right there are a lot of diesel and steam locomotives, passenger and private cars,baggage and RPO cars, freight cars, and caboose for you to get on and look at. Some are in better shape than others. My oldest said they smelled “old”. This made us laugh. Some were being worked on and had sections roped off so you could not look at them.

We started with the engines and worked our way down the line of things to see outside. We then went to the building and looked around in there. We had a great time. We all enjoyed the experience of looking through the train cars. I loved the history information for you to read on the walls of the train cars, it was like you traveled back in time. I even caught my husband in one of the buses pretending to drive:-) We are both big kid’s at heart.  I know my oldest enjoyed all the trains and fire trucks he saw. My youngest seemed to enjoy looking around too. I love taking pictures and we came out with almost 200 from here! I wish I could show them all to you but we would be here for ever. I did make 2 collages for you to view to get a little glimpse of what we saw. Hope if you are ever in Georgia-USA you will plan a family visit to the Southeastern Railway Museum. Then you can see for yourself all they have to see.

Thanks for letting me share our adventure with you in this great series Kids on the Go!

Jaime from Frogs an Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

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