Magical Train Ride Through Town

In Harry Potter, the wizard world was a secret place that existed alongside that of the real world.  The mystical train to Hogwarts was as large as life but invisible between the blinks of our eye.

That idea of a fun world for kids in our midst but beyond our perception came to mind when I ventured one recent Sunday on a trail that took me through Livingston to find something to entertain my bored 9-year old son.

The day started just outside of Livingston on Route 10 West at the Whippany Train Museum, a small but unique train museum.  Operated by volunteers, the museum is only open on Sunday and has an admission of only $1 for adults and 50 cents for kids.  

At the museum, you walk around a stately collection of life sized locomotives, cabooses and coaches from New Jersey railroads of the past, which includes the Central Railroad of NJ (with the opulent Blue Comet), the legendary Pennsylvania railroad, the Delaware & Hudson Railroad and the Morristown & Erie railroad.  These train cars and many artifacts have been restored with meticulous attention to detail by the volunteers of the Railroad Museum. 

Inside the museum's main building, it feels like a general store in the 1800s where you can buy all sorts of fun goodies and train trinkets while seeing artifacts from  old-time railroad days.  The magic of the room is further enhanced by an amazing model railroad train set that is controlled by a timer. 

Outside, there were more delights as a giant toy G scale model train layout shows off speeding steam and diesel locomotives. Kids also can get close up with the old train cars and steam engines for fun and photos.

But perhaps most fun, the museum also offers train rides on special days where you can experience traveling on vintage train cars. The train makes a 10-mile round trip run along the historic Whippanong Trail, the pathway used by the Lenape Indians, and passed through Whippany, East Hanover, Livingston, and Roseland.

That day, we made a stop Meyer's Toy store on Northfield Avenue in Livingston. With a 96-year history, Meyer's is like a landmark, full of stories, history and culture.

Specializing in Lionel Trains, old-fashioned toys and dolls, the owners Harold and Arline Shapiro and their two sons, Roy and Dan, have made their store a labor a love over the years.  Harold purchased the store from his mentor and close friend, Joseph Meyer, more than sixty years ago.

"Trains are a lifelong love for people and we have so many stories, so many wonderful stories," said Arline Shapiro.

The store has a spectacular train layout that allows multiple kids to control the locomotives, making them stop and go and speed across bridges and through turns and tunnels.  For little kids, there is an extensive Thomas the Tank Engine train layout.

The shop also hosts train-themed birthday parties and even has a annual train day in January where they invite everyone young and old to come and play with the trains and race car set-ups.  But we had such a fun time, that we might not wait until then to return or to visit the museum.