Trains! How could any 3-yr-old resist, and up the road we're blessed with the B&O Railroad Museum. The place is a treasure trove of retired engines and coaches, many of which are housed in the impressive roundhouse and many more in sheds outside or sitting in sidings. They have hundreds of the things, from early steam engines to hand-me-downs from the local MARC commuter system. They also offer a ride on the first mile of commercial track ever laid in the USA - a ride, I have to say, somewhat smoother than taking the Metro into DC and almost as slow.
You can climb into the cab of many of the steam engines and enter a metal-scented world of levers, dials and switches, all pleasingly grimy and heavy. We spent hours pretending to be engineers and firemen, choo-chooing here and there, avoiding crashes with other trains. Sometimes I even let Pete have a go.
I asked him on the way home if he had fun, desperate to know if I'd reclaimed a modicum of parenting coolness. "Yes," Pete told me. "When is school starting again?" Ah well. I bought us a membership so that we can come back as much as we like, and if Pete's happens to be at school when I return I guess I just won't have to share the train cab with anyone...
All aboard!
Better than computer games. Maybe.
The lovely, and huge, roundhouse, with a working turntable in the middle.
Pete quickly found the cinema car that had Thomas on repeat. But (scandal!) with an American narrator rather than our own Ringo Starr. That's just not right.
Burn oil!
Pete in control of the C&O No. 1604 "Allegheny" - the most powerful steam locomotive ever made. It was also going to be the largest, until they realised they didn't have any turntables on the East Coast that could turn it around.
Safety first.
Pete eventually found a train I wasn't allowed on. So unfair.
