Friday, July 12, 2013

83) CAL Trains at Leakin Park


At our house we know all about Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, dancing, Lalaloopsies, painting, musicals and dollhouses. We don't however know very much about trains. Fortunately for us we have cousin L who is a complete train aficionado. A few months ago he invited us to one of his favorite places, the CAL trains at Leakin Park, and am I ever so glad we went. The Cal trains are awesome, beyond awesome when you learn that riding the CAL trains is free. The trains run the 2nd Sunday of every month starting in April and running through November. The trains run continuously from 11am-3:30pm and they run different trains throughout the day so that you can ride multiple times. 


CAL stands for Chesapeake & Allegheny Live Steamers the non-profit group that runs the trains at Leakin Park. They are a dedicated group of volunteers who love the trains and know tons about them. They maintain and run the trains in Leakin park and gladly take donations to keep the trains up and running. The trains are over sized models of real steam engines that both kids and adults can ride on. Each train has seats that both kids and adults can fit in for the train ride which lasts a good 5-7 minutes as the tracks weave their way through the park. We all, parents and kids alike, loved riding on the trains. They are just cool. 


In addition to the trains there is a large playground and some picnic tables nearby. On the day that we went we brought a picnic and sat at the picnic tables watching the trains and the kids playing on the playground.  The park also has a cool stone labyrinth just a little walk away and The Carrie Murphy Nature Center which we haven't been to yet but is on our list of places to check out.  The trains will be running this sunday (July 14th) as well as Sunday August 11th, September 8th, October 13th, and November 10th. I am hoping we get to go at least one more time before they stop running for the season in November.


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