Announcement and Washington, DC

Congratulations to you and your family. 

The old, but recently renovated, Union Station is still there and operating as Amtrak & commuter station.  It also houses an expansive food court that can be used for lunch, but not real good for dinner.

The Smithsonian Museum of American History, I believe, houses an early 1800s steam loco (the John Bull?) and a SRR Pacific painted in its green livery, as well as other transportation history.

I seem to recall some shops off of Metro stops in Maryland, but can't remember any specific details.

Enjoy,

Chuck

Matt, Congratulations!  I lived by D.C. for 14 years and agree with Chuck.  If possible go to Baltimore to the B&O Railroad Museum.  They have a great collection and beautiful building.  Be prepared to sweat though, most of it is not air conditioned.

There is Engine House Hobbies in Gaithersburg, MD; Catoctin Mountain Trains in Thurmont, MD (a nice pleasant drive); the Baltimore Street Car Museum; and the National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville, MD.  There are other sights to see but I can't think of them at the moment.

One place no one mentions for train stores in the DC metro area is Perry's Toy Exchange in Wheaton, MD.  Toy trains are just part of the inventory.  New and used.  More action figures than you've ever seen in one place.  However, they are an authorized LIONEL service station for repairs. Different and worth seeking out.  Not worth seeking out is Lionel Buy and Sell in Kensington, MD (unless you enjoy paying MSRP plus)!

Matt,

Congratulations!!

If you happen to head 2 1/2 hours south to visit Colonial Williamsburg; come by and visit my layout.

Next to the House of Congress is Union Station and while there see the tour groups. They had an evening guided bus tour that took you around and was well worth it.

Enjoy!!

BTW Congrats on the upcoming wedding

Steve

First off congratulations on all your news. My thought was the B&O museum in Baltimore. Not far from the inner Harbor so if someone in your party doesn't want to go to the museum the inner harbor will keep them busy for a few hours, I think you can probably get some kind of train service from DC to Baltimore.  

Union Station is fine but from a train perspective not much to see, plus this time of year it is overrun with tourists. I know because I am there every day.  Others have hit on the biggest area attraction -- the Baltimore museum.

Not train related but very interesting and devoid of tourists most of the time is the Library of Congress.  Seriously.  Hidden gem here. 

Train stores?  Not much to write home about.  Engine House Hobbies is a nice store but he is rennovating the inside and it's your typical cluttered train store.  The owner is a nice guy, however.  Potomac Buy and Sell is expensive but if you like postwar they have a lot of stuff in the cases and you can probably haggle.  There's the store in Thurmont that's nice as well.  But no Charlie Ro's or Gryzbowski's in DC. 

The Trolley Museum in Colesville is fun -- but IIRC it is only open on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Google search it to make sure you don't take a trip there for nothing.

Finally, if you have your grandkids around, many of the local Montgomery County parks have a mini train excursion ride led by a red steam engine that looks like a General, kind of. My two boys love it.  (http://www.montgomeryparks.org...iniature_trains.shtm)

HTH, congrats, and have a safe trip.

PS:  if you have access to a car, or can rent one, go to Air & Space in Dulles.  The one downtown is fine, but the Dulles location is far superior.  Worth the time.  Bring a good camera and comfortable walking shoes.  As a history fan and someone with a love of engineering, it is simply spectacular. 

Great news Matt. You have every reason to toot your horn and blow your whistle. Please extend our best wishes to the engaged couple from Elizabeth and I.

You can take the commuter rail - MARTA out of Union Station to downtown Baltimore if you visit the B&O museum and Inner Harbor.  You can also take it to Harper's Ferry which was a railroad hub during the Civil War.  I often fly into BWI and take the shuttle bus to the Amtrak/MARTA station for the trip to DC.

MB Klein was in downtown Baltimore until recently when it moved to Cockeysville.

Jan

As a lifelong area resident, I’d say that the posters above have hit the main points.

But just to chime in, here are three comments (my opinion only):  1) Agree with the sentiment about Union Station. Certainly worth eye-balling if you’re in the neighborhood (Capitol Hill) but there really isn’t a lot to see. 2) Our local train stores, while nice enough, aren’t worth the effort unless you: a) have a fair amount of time to kill and b) feel like driving a good distance in several cases. 3) Agree w/John above about the B&O RR Museum. If I was to do one railroad side trip, that’d be it.

Thanks everyone for all of the congrats and info on the train sites.  Matt

Congrats to the love birds. If you can make it to the B & O Train Museum in Baltimore, they have a special display commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The engine that was used in the 1956 Disney movie The Great Locomotive Chase, about the chase between the General and the Texas, is part of the display.