hey there cincinnatians,the new 10 million dollar G-scale 80,000 sqaure foot entertrainment junction is close to opening in west chester! i saw it earlier in construction when my brother in law was installing the water and sprinkler systems.the trainset itself is 27,000 square feet with a HUGE attached hobby shop and party area.on arrival you'll see a 1920's town with stations and houses where you buy your ticket to enter.as far as i've seen of it it looks fantastic.i myself plan to volunteer later this summer.but the train set has everything.mountanous coal regions in the 50's logging and gold mining in the late 1800's and a modern stack train operation.the scenery is also incredible with some of the mountains i saw in progress being almost 12ft tall.so for anyone passing through or near here,youll HAVE to check it out.--josh
entertrainment JCT almost ready!
- Thread starter bigsteel
- Start date
hey MM,i plan to get a buttload of pictures HOPEFULlY next week.ill post'em all here,as everyone will get a kick out of it as it fits every era! i wish you could see it in person,my crappy pics wont do it justice :mrgreen:.i am also sooooo glad though that ohio is finally getting a huge MRRing attraction and hobby shop.as this is only slightly smaler than the one in SD cal.
on a side note i also read in TRAINS that a kentucky shortline has bought an chinese 2-10-2 and is going to be running soon.MAN am i going to be in paradise
:twisted:
.--josh
on a side note i also read in TRAINS that a kentucky shortline has bought an chinese 2-10-2 and is going to be running soon.MAN am i going to be in paradise
:twisted:.--joshHi All:
Here is some more information on the train junction coming to west chester:
Train attraction chugs into W. Chester
WEST CHESTER TWP. – A mega-attraction featuring miniature trains is expected to roll into West Chester Township by early summer, and backers say the venture could bring hundreds of thousands of visitors.
EnterTRAINment Junction, a $10 million, 80,000-square-foot project, will open in June just off the Tylersville Road exit at Interstate 75
It claims to offer one of the largest indoor train displays in the world, plus a 5,000-square-foot children’s play area, railroad museum and train expo center.
A separate area will house seasonal walk-through attractions, including an old amusement park funhouse, haunted house or North Pole, depending on the time of year.
This enthusiast’s dreamland will be the latest train attraction for an area that is deeply rooted in all things railroad.
Cincinnati’s Union Terminal, the last grand railroad station built in America, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Several historical and model train groups call the Greater Cincinnati area home. Hobby shops and retailers cater to this niche group as well.
Township officials are billing EnterTRAINment and Ikea, the Swedish furniture retailer that opened last week, as the next big things.
“They’ll be the two big draws for the township,” said West Chester spokeswoman Barb Wilson. “We don’t have exact numbers yet, but we think it’ll be huge.”
More than 250,000 people are expected to visit the attraction each year, according to predictions from owner Don Oeters, an Evendale businessman and life-long “train person.”
Visitors will walk into a 1930s small-town village lined with brick roads, park benches, a train station and replica gas lights. An eatery and five railroad-themed party rooms line the Main Street area leading up to an entrance and where people can buy tickets at a train station window.
Inside, a 25,000-square-foot train journey is separated by three historical eras: Early (1830s to 1890s,) Middle (1900 to 1950s,) and the Modern (1960s to present) periods. In all, 90 G-scale trains, with cars about the size of a loaf of bread, will criss-cross more than two miles of railroad tracks. Sights, sounds and maybe even smells will change to reflect each time period.
By comparison, the popular Cinergy holiday train display in Cincinnati is 2,000 square feet. A closer rival: the San Diego-based Model Railroad Museum, features a 27,000-square-foot building that uses smaller, HO and N-scale trains.
The first section of the West Chester center will include a Civil War camp. Other fine details to be displayed include a landslide that crushed a barn and knocked down trees in a logging and mining area.
Next, the Middle era offers views of an early 1950s coal town. Trolley cars will work their way through a bustling town center separated by several city blocks.
The final section of the train journey mirrors more recent times, with freight trains mixed in with a subway, city hall building and skyscrapers. A more rural area will include hot air balloon races, a vineyard and rail yard.
Plexiglas-enclosed layouts will include 17-foot mountains, an 11-foot high waterfall, tunnels, bridges, forests and factories. On-board cameras on some trains will provide ground-level views, with images projected on nearby video screens.
Volunteer train lovers are helping complete thousands of hours of detail work.
About 200 people have signed up, 100 have done work, and 25 regularly come in.
Among them: Pete Villarreal, a retired bridge worker for the CSX railroad company who lives in West Chester. He’s building a 12-foot wooden bridge that must be able to withstand winds and a couple hundred pounds.
“I never thought I’d be doing for play what I used to do for work,” Villarreal, 69, joked, as he cut pieces of wood.
Across town, Al Baxter works in his basement – sometimes 40 hours a week – to re-create small villages. He has already built part of the Early Period coal town. Next, he plans to work on the Civil War re-enactment section.
“I’m retired, and when you don’t have something to do in retirement, you get bored,” said Baxter, 77. “This is going to be a world-class entertainment center. I’m just glad I could do something to help and be a part of it.”
The Butler County Visitor’s Bureau ‘s Web site touts the business as the “world’s largest train-themed family entertainment center.”
“I don’t think we can compare this to anything else we have in the county. This is such a unique product,” said Mark Hecquet, the bureau’s executive director. “We’ve got the Pyramid Hills, the Ikeas. As far as we’re concerned, this is just another piece of the puzzle to make Butler County a destination.”
Even other train-focused businesses are excited about the grand opening. When asked competition worries, Lebanon based LM&M Railroad president Karen Zerbini said, “No. Oh gosh, never.
“The more people who learn about the advantages of trains, the better. …This is becoming a dying art,” she said. “And I think of this as an opportunity to send each other patrons back and forth.”
dwight77
Here is some more information on the train junction coming to west chester:
Train attraction chugs into W. Chester
WEST CHESTER TWP. – A mega-attraction featuring miniature trains is expected to roll into West Chester Township by early summer, and backers say the venture could bring hundreds of thousands of visitors.
EnterTRAINment Junction, a $10 million, 80,000-square-foot project, will open in June just off the Tylersville Road exit at Interstate 75
It claims to offer one of the largest indoor train displays in the world, plus a 5,000-square-foot children’s play area, railroad museum and train expo center.
A separate area will house seasonal walk-through attractions, including an old amusement park funhouse, haunted house or North Pole, depending on the time of year.
This enthusiast’s dreamland will be the latest train attraction for an area that is deeply rooted in all things railroad.
Cincinnati’s Union Terminal, the last grand railroad station built in America, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Several historical and model train groups call the Greater Cincinnati area home. Hobby shops and retailers cater to this niche group as well.
Township officials are billing EnterTRAINment and Ikea, the Swedish furniture retailer that opened last week, as the next big things.
“They’ll be the two big draws for the township,” said West Chester spokeswoman Barb Wilson. “We don’t have exact numbers yet, but we think it’ll be huge.”
More than 250,000 people are expected to visit the attraction each year, according to predictions from owner Don Oeters, an Evendale businessman and life-long “train person.”
Visitors will walk into a 1930s small-town village lined with brick roads, park benches, a train station and replica gas lights. An eatery and five railroad-themed party rooms line the Main Street area leading up to an entrance and where people can buy tickets at a train station window.
Inside, a 25,000-square-foot train journey is separated by three historical eras: Early (1830s to 1890s,) Middle (1900 to 1950s,) and the Modern (1960s to present) periods. In all, 90 G-scale trains, with cars about the size of a loaf of bread, will criss-cross more than two miles of railroad tracks. Sights, sounds and maybe even smells will change to reflect each time period.
By comparison, the popular Cinergy holiday train display in Cincinnati is 2,000 square feet. A closer rival: the San Diego-based Model Railroad Museum, features a 27,000-square-foot building that uses smaller, HO and N-scale trains.
The first section of the West Chester center will include a Civil War camp. Other fine details to be displayed include a landslide that crushed a barn and knocked down trees in a logging and mining area.
Next, the Middle era offers views of an early 1950s coal town. Trolley cars will work their way through a bustling town center separated by several city blocks.
The final section of the train journey mirrors more recent times, with freight trains mixed in with a subway, city hall building and skyscrapers. A more rural area will include hot air balloon races, a vineyard and rail yard.
Plexiglas-enclosed layouts will include 17-foot mountains, an 11-foot high waterfall, tunnels, bridges, forests and factories. On-board cameras on some trains will provide ground-level views, with images projected on nearby video screens.
Volunteer train lovers are helping complete thousands of hours of detail work.
About 200 people have signed up, 100 have done work, and 25 regularly come in.
Among them: Pete Villarreal, a retired bridge worker for the CSX railroad company who lives in West Chester. He’s building a 12-foot wooden bridge that must be able to withstand winds and a couple hundred pounds.
“I never thought I’d be doing for play what I used to do for work,” Villarreal, 69, joked, as he cut pieces of wood.
Across town, Al Baxter works in his basement – sometimes 40 hours a week – to re-create small villages. He has already built part of the Early Period coal town. Next, he plans to work on the Civil War re-enactment section.
“I’m retired, and when you don’t have something to do in retirement, you get bored,” said Baxter, 77. “This is going to be a world-class entertainment center. I’m just glad I could do something to help and be a part of it.”
The Butler County Visitor’s Bureau ‘s Web site touts the business as the “world’s largest train-themed family entertainment center.”
“I don’t think we can compare this to anything else we have in the county. This is such a unique product,” said Mark Hecquet, the bureau’s executive director. “We’ve got the Pyramid Hills, the Ikeas. As far as we’re concerned, this is just another piece of the puzzle to make Butler County a destination.”
Even other train-focused businesses are excited about the grand opening. When asked competition worries, Lebanon based LM&M Railroad president Karen Zerbini said, “No. Oh gosh, never.
“The more people who learn about the advantages of trains, the better. …This is becoming a dying art,” she said. “And I think of this as an opportunity to send each other patrons back and forth.”
dwight77