New York Transit Museum Store

I was happy to learn that the holiday train show at the Transit Museum lasts until the end of February. As part of our visit to Grand Central we stopped by. I've heard that the show was worth a visit, but it exceeded my expectations. It was actually very cool. I have two nephews who both love trains, and I wish that they both lived closer, because I would love to take them here. 

The train set-up is visible right as you walk in the door. I loved the miniature Grand Central Terminal and the light-covered ceiling.

The front half of the display contains New York City's buildings, including the Empire State Building. The King Kong gorilla hanging off its side made me smile.

There are four or five different trains snaking their way over, under, and around the buildings, and through various tunnels. Their illuminated interiors, exterior lights, and whistles really added to the charm of the show. Of all the trains, the subway was my favorite. 

It snaked around the upper track and would stop when it reached the platform to "pick up passengers." The tracks and platform are reminiscent of the above ground setup we have in Queens. It was really cute.

I loved all the tiny details, and there was more than one Santa out and about among the model city.

The miniature taxi cabs were cute with their little rooftop advertisements.

I loved that they included the Brooklyn Bridge.

As you walk further back along the display, the cityscape gives way to a country town sitting at the base of a tree-covered mountain. There were little people and cars out around the building, including a tiny painter rolling paint on a sign and moving workers repairing a section of the track.

We had a lot of fun watching the trains and it was fun to see lots of excited little children watching the trains too. I think I enjoyed it just as much as they did!

I included a video so you can see the trains in action.

We wandered around the store a bit before we left. They have a lot of cool things there, including toy subway cars, taxis, and buses. We picked up two Christmas ornaments for our tree because we couldn't decide between the subway car and the one depicting Grand Central's main room. We now have a train car from each side of the country for our tree: a subway car from New York and a trolley car from San Francisco. We will be making another visit back to purchase a couple of 7 line subway cars for our nephews so they can each have a train like the one their aunt and uncle ride.