Geneva: Trackless Train at Famfest 2014

Geneva -- Check out the schedule for Famfest 2014 at Faith Baptist Church in Geneva for an afternoon of kid-pleasing activities, including rides on a trackless train. The event happens this Saturday, August 2 starting at noon. Activities are free, but registration is required via the church's online form. 

Geneva: Model Railroad Display at Swedish Days

Geneva, Illinois -- Chicago's LGB Railroad Club returns to the Geneva History Center June 17 through 22 with the club's display train layout and other activities in honor of the 65th Swedish Days festival. The train is a large scale layout. The center will be open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children. 

The Geneva History Center is located at 113 S. Third Street in downtown Geneva across from the old courthouse. 

No Polar Express Here: Digging out from the Polar Vortex

We here at Railroad Kids headquarters are just now digging out of the Polar Vortex. Oh, there has been much building of trains this winter. It takes the skill of an Olympic slalom skier to navigate rooms that have been literally covered in wooden train tracks, Lego train tracks and Power Train tracks, not to mention the urban landscapes that said railroads traverse.  As always, our reading of train books and viewing of train videos goes on and on. 

With the layout
she built herself 

Unfortunately, between the frigid cold and the epic power of Winter Germs, we haven't been out to visit many train sites this winter. We aren't the only ones who have sequestered ourselves. I was heartbroken to see the season has been too tough for a great little restaurant in Geneva. Last month, the Boxcar train restaurant announced that it was closing its doors. It was nice place: tasty food, fun for the kids, decorated in a way that even adults could appreciate. The Boxcar will be missed. 

After Christmas there was certainly a lull in train-themed family activities of all sorts, but take heart, those types of events are picking up again. May I point to the Chicago Family Palooza happening this very day in at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles? If you can't stand today's return to snow and icy winds, the many, many indoor attractions include a trackless train ride. It's the kind of thing that my kids would love if all three were healthy simultaneously. Alas, such is not the case. 

So, we continue to dream of Spring. Even now, my two year old is making a substantial Duplo train and station right here in the living room. No cough can hold him back from his engineering pursuits. Someday soon we hope to get out and ride the rails again. Until then, we build, build build! 

Train Restaurant Deals and Activities in November

Eating a burger at 2 Toots 

Facebookians, the train restaurants of Chicagoland are sweetening the dinner pot to encourage you to bring in the kids this month. Just yesterday, posts from three railroad restaurants popped up in my Facebook feed with enticing deals. Boxcar Train Restaurant in Geneva is offering a 15 percent discount to guests who mention their Facebook post this weekend. In Forest Park, the Junction Diner will be celebrating their first anniversary on Nov. 9 with a party from 12 until 3 pm., including menu specials, kids' games, face painting and a special guest. All Aboard Diner on the south side of Downers Grove is holding a coloring contest until Nov. 15. The winner will receive a 15-guest pizza party at Pro Martial Arts, also in Downers Grove. 

As long as you're getting hungry liking train restaurants on Facebook, try these, too:

• 2 Toots Train Whistle Grill in Glen Ellyn and Bartlett 
• The Choo Choo Restaurant in Des Plaines 
• Choo Choo Johnny's in Naperville 

So log on and like your favorite spots. It will make planning your next family dinner out a little easier and a lot more fun.

Geneva: Good Cents treasure hunting yields a Lego train book gem

Shhh! One of Santa's elves made a great discovery at her favorite kids' store this morning. My shopping goal was to find pants for the kids and my first stop was Good Cents Children in Geneva, always my first stop for kids' clothing. Of course, I had to take a peek at their train section. There is always an adorable endcap with railroad books and toys. Being a resale shop, the available merchandise varies from visit to visit but I can say that no small number of our family's wooden trains and books have come from this store. There are always train toys, books, coloring and sticker books and, sometimes, shirts and hats. Anyway, tucked in an assortment of Thomas the Train picture books I found this gem: 

"Getting Started with Lego Trains"
by Jacob H. McKee 

I snatched it up, flipped through it, and did not set it down. It's as if a book had been written just for my 7-year old. Trains + Lego = Bliss. (The fact that it has one of his very favorite engines on the cover just sealed the deal.) It's over 100 pages of full-color Lego-building principles, step-by-step instructions for building several kinds of train cars and custom track layout ideas. Honestly, I'd like to plop myself down amid my son's box o' Legos and start construction right now!

This particular elf tends to be a bargain hunting sort of gal with no qualms about second-hand Christmas gifts if they are in decent shape and a good match for the giftee. So the plan was to squirrel away my $3 discovery until Dec. 25. Then I took a peek at Amazon.com to see if the book, published in 2003, is still available. The kids in this house aren't the only ones I know who love Lego trains, but it looks like the other engineers on my list won't be getting a copy of this title. Not only is it out of print, it's going for at least $40 used on Amazon and eBay. (Not bad for something with a $20 cover price.) So, it looks like, not only did I find a perfect gift, I found an introductory lesson in investing. Trains: the gift that keeps on giving!

Geneva History Center

The LGB club's Swedish Days layout

We stopped in to the Geneva History Center during Swedish Days to take a look at the LGB Model Railroad Club display. The club regularly appears at locations and events around the Chicago area, so we had previously enjoyed their large-scale layouts at Brookfield Zoo and Morton Arboretum. In honor of Swedish Days, this display included buildings adorned with Swedish flags and a small Kirsten doll of American Girl fame. These details and more than 20 others were included in a scavenger hunt for guests. Number one on the scavenger hunt, and seemingly most popular with viewers, was the coaling tower that repeatedly filled cars with "pearls."

When I was able to pull my son away from the display for a few minutes to look at the rest of the museum, he delighted in the dioramas of train stations from Geneva's past. One is just outside the building's Mary Bencini Room where the train show was held. The other is within the top-notch "Greetings from Geneva" exhibit in the main gallery. (This permanent exhibit on the city's history also included a hands-on design your own subdivision table that kept my future civil engineer engaged for quite awhile.) Once again, trains get us in the door and a little extra local history sneaks into unsuspecting young brains while they are looking and playing. That, my friends, is the reason I'm willing to keep feeding this passion for trains!

Geneva: Boxcar Restaurant

In celebration of the end of the school year, we visited the new Boxcar Restaurant in downtown Geneva this week. The moment we walked in it became my new favorite train restaurant. Just like other railroad-themed restaurants in the area, this one surrounds you in train decor, brings food to the table on a model train, and is heavily populated by a young, train-loving crowd. The difference is that the decor is warm and cozy. (And not too noisy!) Realizing that the grownups bringing their young diners to the restaurant want a nice meal in a comfortable space, the owners of this place have panted the walls in warm earth tones fitting a classy Geneva restaurant. The train decorations, including a wonderful wall-filling black and white photo of Geneva's station in steam engine days, have a classic vintage feel. There are TVs to watch while the meal is on its way (tuned to Nick Jr and Sprout when we were there) but my kids spent their waiting time with their faces against the window watching the Metra drop off commuters at the Geneva station. They also loved the ride-on, coin-operated train. Despite their inability to sit at the table for the meal, they still managed to grab enough bites between excited "The bells are ringing!" moments to finish their entire meals. My husband and I enjoyed our food, too. So, praise to the kitchen staff for respecting the taste buds of their clientele. Most glorious of all, with everything to watch around him, my toddler actually stayed in his seat from the time we came in until it was time for all of us to go. That never happens. Boxcar, I love you!

Find the Boxcar at 500 S. Third Street in Geneva, just two doors down from Geneva's Metra station.