Naperville: Saying goodbye to TRAINS! at the DuPage Children's Museum

Naperville, IL -- During my family's annual summer visit to the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville, we said goodbye to a beloved exhibit. TRAINS! ends its two-year run at the end of this month. Before the museum closes for it's September hiatus, squeeze in a final visit or two to see the model train, "drive" or "ride" a Metra, be a ticket agent, operate a crane, or enjoy a great selection of books and artwork about railroads. A farewell party is planned for the evening of August 22 beginning at 5 p.m. Kids will be able to enjoy rides on two child-sized trains running in the parking lot during the event. Parents can RSVP for the festivities via the museum's web form. Goodbye, TRAINS! You will be missed. 

Train-lovers: Vote for favorite places

Entrance to
The DuPage Children's Museum

This business of entertaining young train lovers is a serious thing. Serious enough that "Best place for train-watching" is one of the categories parent-types can vote for in the first Chicago Parent Best of the Best Awards. Here are the contenders (selected by reader nominations):

• 2 Toots Cafe (Bartlett and Glen Ellyn)
• DuPage Children's Museum, second floor (Naperville)
• Riding the 'L' around the loop
• Illinois Railway Museum (Union)
• Ogilvie Transportation Center 

If being an informed voter inspires you to try visit those in the running, one more place deserves your attention. The very next category offers Forest Park's Junction Diner restaurant as a choice for "Best spot for playdate lunches." Yes, this is Chicago, but only one vote per email address will be accepted. Results will be available online in late December.

As a nice incentive, Chicago Parent is offering a chance to win $100 for casting a ballot. Go to their website and make your choices known by Friday, Oct. 18.

Some of the artwork displayed on the second-floor Trains exhibit
at the DuPage Children's Museum

Naperville & Chicago: Pullman lecture and bus tour

For the history-loving adult railroad fan, Naperville is the place to be. Tonight North Central College professor Ann Durkin Keating will present "The Town of Pullman Lecture." The event, beginning at 7 p.m. at Naper Settlement's Century Memorial Chapel, will give attendees a look at George Pullman's model industrial town. On Saturday, Oct. 12, a bus tour leaves at 9:30 a.m. for the  40th Annual Historic Pullman House Tour.  The tour will include visits to historic homes, from modest worker dwellings to the grand mansions of company executives. 

The Historic Pullman House Tour happens only once each year, but visitors can attend on their own either Saturday, Oct. 12 or Sunday Oct. 13 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Contact the Pullman Visitor Center at 773.785.8901  for more details. 

To attend the Naper Settlement lecture or tour, call 630.420.6010. 

Naperville: DuPage Children's Museum

My young engineers drive the Metra 

Outside the museum, give the wheel a crank and watch the train's wheels spin.

Excited train face at the model RR

The evening before our most recent visit to the DuPage Children's Museum my oldest developed a stomachache from a bit of overindulgence at a church potluck. He was miserable, not because of any discomfort, but because he was afraid he might miss going to the museum. This is how much this place is loved. Fortunately, time and a few train videos on YouTube cure all ills and the trip went off as planned.

As a children's museum, there's no shortage of fun activities for kids of all ages and interests. From their very first visits, my children have loved the WaterWays, AirWorks, and Make It Move exhibits. Last year, however, the museum made itself even more appealing with the opening of a new exhibit: "Trains -- Get On Board!" Kids have always stopped playing to watch the Metra trains zip by just north of the museum's parking lot, but the new exhibit brings the trains right into the museum. Children can be engineers or passengers in a kid-sized Metra.  ("It's the old diesel engine," points out my boy who knows these things.) A control tower gives the children something to climb. A ticket window, engineer and conductor clothing allow for pretend play. Of course, the requisite model railroad layout fills the center of the area with viewing areas both outside and within the tracks. A few observant children might even delight in the beautiful Art Deco travel posters recalling train travel of days gone by. For the youngest members of the family, one of the museum's two Young Explorers areas for babies and toddlers is next to the train exhibit allowing fairly easy supervision of all family members at once.

Thanks to the generosity of the museum and our local library, the kids earned free admission passes for participating in the summer reading program. I was happy to find a discount coupon for myself in the Oaklees Guide. The baby just squeaked in for free since he's a few weeks shy of his first birthday. Without these discounts, everyone under 60 pays $9.50 each, so consider a membership if you'd like to make repeat visits, or do your coupon scouting homework!

The museum is at 301 N. Washington Street in Naperville. Road construction on Washington and surrounding streets is making entering the parking lot a bit of an adventure these days, so watch for construction and detour signs as you approach.