Model Train Displays in Lancaster County

Here are the best places to find model train exhibits (many of them FREE!) in Lancaster County. Some of these train displays are best-kept secrets, including several train displays that we found by accident!

While many of these model train displays in Lancaster are FREE, some of them do have a small cover charge. Whether adult or child though, everyone will love checking out these trains this holiday season!

1. Short Line Model Railroad

(11 South State Street, Ephrata)
FREE-will donation.Open the first weekend after Thanksgiving through the second weekend in January. Hours are 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

This is definitely a hidden gem—only open to the public once a year during the holiday season! Visitors to the Short Line Model Railroad will enjoy watching numerous trains as they traverse the rails of the club’s 30′ x 60′ detailed HO scale layout.  Located next to the Ephrata Fair Building on State Street. 

2. Frysville Farms Model Trains

(Ephrata) FREE. This is the exceptional train layout that we found by accident. Last year we thought we’d visit Frysville Farms because we heard a lot about it, and as we were about to leave the store, we found this magnificently huge train setup, decorated with poinsettias and bridges—it was just beautiful! Your kids will LOVE it.

3. Elizabethtown Library Train Display

(Elizabethtown) $2 minimum donation per person. Our holiday train display has something for everyone:  young and old, families, businesses, retirees, collectors and more. With various gauges and multiple train lines, not to mention settings featuring local history, the display is guaranteed to  delight. And don’t forget the interactive buttons you can push (around 40 in all)! All Proceeds Benefit Elizabethtown Public Library! Operating Schedule.

4. Choo Choo Barn

(Strasburg) Search for 57 hidden Santas (one for each year we have been open) and watch as Santa’s sleigh flies above the 1,700 square foot model train extravaganza, which includes 150 hand-built animations and 22 moving trains. The Christmas layout is open 7 days a week through December 31 from 10am-4:30pm (closed Thanksgiving and Christmas days). Please note that we close early (3:30pm) on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

5. Railroad Museum of PA – Home for the Holidays

(Strasburg) Take a nostalgic glimpse at 100 years of holiday rail travel. Meet costumed railroaders and enjoy seasonal music and festive decorations among our world-class collection of trains and model trains. They are also featuring Christmas with the Conductor on December 7 and 14, when a costumed conductor will punch their golden ticket as they welcome your child on board one of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania’s historic railroad cars, where everyone will enjoy a special reading of a holiday classic story. Kids also will create a take-home craft in Jack Frost Station, and receive a small bag of goodies.

6. Red Lion Train Station Model Railroad Holiday Open House

(73 N. Main St, Red Lion) The Red Lion Train Station Model Railroaders are holding the 17th Annual Holiday Open House of their 3-rail O Gauge, N Gauge and other model railroad layouts, located in the historic Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad’s Red Lion Train Station Museum. Admission is FREE, but donations are greatly appreciated. Opens November 24th.

7. Lititz Library Train Display

(Lititz) Come see the train display by Lavon Stauffer and Greg Phillips in our community room. Will be on display December 7, 10, 12 and 14.

8. National Toy Train Museum

(Strasburg)  See photos from our family visit, including the lego train exhibit! FREE admission with a canned food item on November 30, December 7, 14 and 21. Candy canes will also be given from Santa.

9. All Aboard Railroad

(1952 Landis Valley Rd., Lancaster)
Cost is $6 for ages 12 and up. Children 3-11 are $4 under 3 are free.

This year is our 42nd annual operation of the ALL ABOARD RAIL ROAD featuring American Flyer trains open to the public.  This 800 Sq. Ft. display has 2010 feet of trackage all interconnected through 72 switches with as many as 20 trains climbing grades as they huff & puff over bridges from farms to mountains.  A 5 minute night scene is scheduled every 1/2 hour with over 900 miniature lights illuminating the display.  On top of Flat Top mountain is the”Comet” Roller Coaster and Plasticville Airport with illuminated runways. 

10. Garden Spot Village Model Train Display

The Garden Spot Village Train Club will host a Holiday Open House in the Train Room. The HO-gauge train layout includes Thomasville and the ever-popular “Talk with Thomas” event. The O-gauge train layout includes waterfalls, a drive-in movie theater, a Ford dealership showroom and more. Both layouts provide plenty of train action complemented with heavily detailed scenery. FREE and open to the public. Display is open on December 14, 21, 28 and 30 from 1:30pm – 4:00pm / Train Room.

11. The Masonic Villages Elizabethtown Model Railroad Club

The Masonic Villages Elizabethtown Model Railroad Club has open house Saturday’s in December. We go every year and my whole family LOVES it. Also, they have a shuttle bus to the Elizabethtown library to check out the display there. It is FREE, but donations welcome.

12. Derry Historical Museum in Hershey

The Derry Historical Museum in Hershey has a display during the holidays. There is an admission, $4 adult, $2 children over 3. We checked it out last week and my boys enjoyed it. There’s also a play area in the museum for kids that includes a train table, dress up with play kitchen, store and school room from the 1800’s. 

13. Columbia Historic Preservation Society

This is a truly unique exhibit especially for those who love history. The model is of the town of Columbia and surrounding areas (based on what actually existed from 1920-1940). Columbia covers approximately 200 sq.ft. of the layout, and is home to a large roundhouse facility, a major yard, coaling and diesel facilities as well as two railroad stations (Pennsylvania RR and Reading RR).

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