7156. Ride in a caboose

 Last year when we were at the Illinois Railroad Museum, I wanted to ride in the caboose. We just ran out of time. I saw that the Minnesota Transportation Museum had a caboose ride. It was a very short caboose ride. I wanted something more.

When we were at the Monticello Railroad Museum, we got out to check out the depot in downtown Monticello. As we were walking back to board the train, I noticed it had a caboose. I told the hubby we could ride in the caboose and we decided to ride in the caboose for the rest of the train ride.

There were a few other people in the caboose, a dad with a couple of kids and an older gentleman. We initially just sat and enjoyed the ride. 

When the dad sat down, I got up and took a few pictures. He mentioned we could actually stand in the doorway and enjoy the view.

What an experience. We were actually going backwards at the time so we were the first ones to see everything. I few times I had to steady my balance and eventually I held on to the ladder.

Even the engineers didn't really bother us. They were just chilling as well.

Eventually we sat back down to enjoy the ride back to the station.

I was able to, without dropping the phone, take some great shots as we were coming in the the station from the end of the train.

Now that I crossed riding in a caboose off the bucket list, I need to work up the guts to ride in the cupula of the caboose. Those are the seats at the top of the caboose accessed by tiny little ladders on either side of the seats. It might be difficult as kids usually clamor for these seats.

If you ever have a desire to ride in a caboose, I would recommend either the Monticello Railroad Museum or the Illinois Railroad Museum for your caboose ride. Both are great train museums. 

Train Adventures: Monticello Railway Museum

 The hubby recently woke his buried love for train and trains rides. He really wanted to go to Boone County Iowa for their train museum but schedule conflicts forced us to pivot our vacation plans. With Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky on the docket, I had went in search of a train museum for the hubby. My original plan was to go to Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, IN but another schedule conflicted forced me pivot again.  Monticello Railway Museum fit in the plans and was on the way home.

Monticello Railway Museum is located in Monticello, IL about 30 minutes southwest of Champaign. It is open on weekends May-October 10:30-3:30 plus it offers a Polar Express ride in November and early December. There is also a bunny train around Easter. Admission is $15/adults and $8/children. 

You can pick the train at the museum at the Nelson Crossing Depot or the Wabash Depot in downtown Monticello. We picked it up at Nelson Depot. We initially board the train in a passenger car. 

The train stops at the Wabash Depot. We got off and looked around the small museum at the depot. If we chose, we could have walked around downtown Monticello. Due to time constraints, we didn't but it also didn't look much around downtown to keep us occupied for a good hour. 

We saw there was a caboose at the end of the train. I wanted to ride in the caboose. We had a very enjoyable ride to the end of the line before headed back to the depot. From Wabash Station to the end of the line, the train went backwards so looking out of the back of the caboose we actually felt as we were going forward.

Once we got back to the Nelson Depot, the hubby wanted to go up in the Stair Tower. The stair tower is a replica of a railroad interlocking tower that was found a railroad junction to control the signals and lights along the line. The docent was very informative and I learned a vital part of the railroad. The hubby even got to pull the levers that controlled the lights and signals. They were heavy.

We hurried our way through the train barn. It had many of the same trains as other train museum

A Mail Car

A Sleeper car that seemed not a very comfortable way to travel. I'll stick to cars and hotels.

There was a display on Railroad Express Agency that not only carried mail and packages but also in the time of war, bodies of soldiers. This is something we never think of but had to be done.

I wish we had more time to explore the train yard but we had to get on the road. 

The Monticello Railroad Museum is definitely worth the stop. The train ride was enjoyable. The museum was well done. 

I wonder where our next train adventure will take us. Stay tuned. 

3264. Go to the Minnesota Transportation Museum in St. Paul

 The hubby has been on a train kick lately. I am not really sure what caused this fascination to reappear but at least it gave me ideas of places he would like to visit. Because the Fourth of July fell on a Friday this year, we decided could possibly take a mini trip somewhere on Saturday. Originally we were going to see the Rays play the Twins at Target Field.  I casually mentioned if we didn't go to the Twins game we could go to the Minnesota Transportation Museum since it's only open Saturdays and Wednesdays. And that's what we ended up doing since the Twins tickets were insane and the weather wasn't looking the greatest. 

The Minnesota Transportation Museum like I said is only open Wednesdays and Saturdays 10-4 year round. They only do train rides on Saturdays. Admission is $11/adult and $9/students. Parking is free. 

While I was excited to ride a caboose, the hubby was excited that the museum is in an old roundhouse. For those non-train folks, a roundhouse is where they stored and serviced locomotives. It was circular or semi circular with a giant turntable that helped to move the locomotives. There are not many left in the country.  

After paying our admission, it was almost time for a train ride so we headed out to the train yard to grab a seat on the caboose. This would have been the last train before the engineers broke for lunch. So perfect timing. 

The train consisted of a caboose and an engine. You could probably fit 15-20 people in the caboose plus a 4 or so up in the cupula. We had about a dozen or so people. It was not at all crowded or I didn't have to sit next to a stranger. There are no seats just a couple of benches along the sides of the caboose like a working caboose had. 

The train ride itself was about 15 minutes. It went up the track a few miles, reversed, and came back. Honestly it was not all the exciting. We did get a brief history of the railroad in the Twin Cities area but the ride was over way too quick. At least I got to ride in a caboose. 

After our brief train ride, we learned more about the roundhouse and turntable. It's really big.

Plus checked out some of the trains outside.

Back inside we checked out the model railroad exhibit.

We checked out some of the trains inside.

I found a Charlie Brown dressed as a train engineer.

I went in another caboose

We got to go in an actual engine, sit in the seats, and learn how an steam engine worked. That was actually pretty fascinating and worth the price of admission.

The Minnesota Transportation Museum also offers train rides out of Osceola, WI on weekends. They run a scenic train ride along with theme rides such as pizza, ice cream, pumpkin, and even a wine train. The scenic train ride is on my list for another day.

Overall we probably spent about an hour or so at the train museum. It is not large by any means. If we weren't going to see friends in Eau Claire, I would have planned on seeing more in the Twin Cities including the Model Railroad Museum. 

I am glad we went. I got to ride in a caboose. The hubby got to see a roundhouse. If someone you know loves trains (or cabooses), it is worth checking out. You can definitely hit in a few hours on your way in or out of town.