Enjoy a “Choo Choo Christmas” at the Marion County Museum & Archives beginning Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. This free exhibit is “Marion County Railroad History.” The museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursdays; 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and noon until 9 p.m. on Saturdays to coordinate with downtown Columbia evening events.
The exhibit will have three tables of running model trains, one of which is on a landscape of downtown “Columbia Main Street.” Another is a “Polar Express Train,” which children can operate. The third is a new table of a complete town, mine and tunnels.
There is a “junior engineer” area where children can play with “Thomas the Train” toys while they watch the “Polar Express” movie. Small children can also ride a Mickey Mouse engine.
Enjoy some Holiday flavor décor throughout the Museum in several “Holiday Village Scenes” with train themes.
Watch video interviews of people who worked on the railroads as well as a video interview with a gentleman who has direct information on the aftermath of the Red Bluff train derailment on Christmas Day in 1968.
Columbia has quite a railroad history with three main lines that came through town, including The Fernwood, Columbia & Gulf (FC&G), the New Orleans Great Northern (NOGN) and the Gulf & Ship Island (G&SI).
The Museum occupies the only train building remaining, the G&SI depot built in 1907. Explore the history of logging railroad spurs in Marion County and the region, as well as the main lines as they changed hands eventually to the Illinois Central Gulf.
This exhibit, which will remain on display through March 2024, is supported by the Marion County Historical Society.
The Museum is located at 200 Second St., the west end of Second Street near City Hall.
Visit the Marion County Historical Society Facebook page for more information.
