Too Cold for a Train Ride: Check out these East Coast Indoor Displays

Maybe you had a train layout around your Christmas tree as a kid or perhaps, like me, you have a permanent display in your basement. Either way, there are a couple of places that took the basement train layout to an extreme here on the east coast.

Roadside America: Located in Shartlesville, PA along interstate 78, is an unforgettable panorama of life in rural United States. The exhibit spans more than two hundred years in time and lets you see, in exquisite miniature, how people lived and worked in pioneer days, through the years since then, right up to the present. The exhibit fascinates not only because of its authentic, beautifully crafted miniatures, but because of the excitement of continual movement. Swift trains glide through tunnels and over bridges, a tiny fountain bubbles in the miniature Zoo, a mountain trolley hustles through the woodland, an old-time grist mill slowly grinds grain for flour. This is only a small part of the action at Roadside America. The trains are “O” gauge.

There is plenty of parking for RV’ers and next store you can visit the Pennsylvania Dutch Gift House. Additionally, there is easy nearby access to the Appalachian Trail near some of the most scenic sections of the trail in Pennsylvania.

There are a number of campgrounds with-in a mile or two of Roadside America including Appalachian Camping Resort which is right across I-78 from the entrance.

Northlandz: Northlandz, bills itself as the world’s largest model railroad. Their trains are mostly “HO” gauge. They are located on US Rt. 202 in Flemington, NJ. They have over 8 miles of “HO” gauge track inside their building. Northlandz is a 16 acre world class attraction. Included in this complex is a doll museum, La Peep Doll House, a 2,000 pipe theater pipe organ and art galleries throughout. You can also check out a video of the display.

Nearby, in Flemington, is Liberty Village Premium Outlets. They feature over 40 outlet stores.
Northlandz has plenty of parking for RV’ers. There are also a number of campgrounds nearby.

Picture Above: A train in Northlandz