Several years ago, we met up with friends from Huntsville to go see Thomas and Friends at the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum here in Chattanooga. We had a really good visit, but had never made it back.
A friend from church had mentioned that they had got an annual pass for their family to the museum and really enjoyed going to ride the Missionary Local (train) often with their kids.
When my brother, sister, and her kids were here I initially thought it would be fun to take them to Rock City, but the morning we planned to do this excursion ended up being pretty cold.
So instead, I had the bright idea to go to the train museum and ride the Missionary Local.
So on a last minute whim, that is what we did.
Our crew is slow moving in the mornings, so we opted to make it on the last train of the day that would be leaving around noon.
The train ride is only six miles, but takes you over several bridges and through a tunnel in Missionary Ridge. It ends at the old East Chattanooga Station. It takes an hour because you ride to the end of the line, then disembark at a train yard where you get to watch the engine spin around on the turn table.
While they hook the engine back up to the train, we were taken to the train shop where they work on trains from all over the continent.
It was pretty impressive.
Thankfully my sister came prepared with snacks, because the kids mostly wanted to snack. But they still had a good time!
I went ahead and got a pass for our family. The kids enjoyed the ride and also exploring the parked train cars in the museum yard (this was probably their favorite part!).
We are hoping to do some more excursions, and even upgrade to some of their longer scenic routes when the leaves change in the fall.
This turned out to be a perfect activity for what started out as a cool morning.
Afterward we went to eat a late brunch at the Daily Ration in North Shore. Thankfully it was warm enough to enjoy sitting outside in the sunshine while the kids played corn hole!
