HAMBURG - The Reading Railroad Heritage Museum is getting into the holiday spirit with a new exhibit called "Trains, Trees and Gingerbread."
"We want to have people come and learn about the Reading Railroad and join us in the effort to preserve its significance," Carol Adams, exhibit coordinator, said Wednesday.
This is the first year for the exhibit, and it features nine Christmas trees decorated by local businesses, Girl Scouts and historical societies. Each tree has a railroad theme.
"Each tree decorator had a different idea," Adams said.
Tree decorators included Calvary Before and After School Care, Mohnton; Cindy-Lou's Hair Salon, Leesport; Fleetwood Historical Society, Fleetwood; Girl Scout Troop 1622, West Lawn; Heidelberg Heritage Society, Wernerville; Girl Scout Troop 1201, Fleetwood; Junior Girl Scout Troop 1841, Hamburg; Kathryn Bolton, a Hamburg resident who collects railroad-related Christmas ornaments; and The Women of the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum, Hamburg.
There are also gingerbread houses shaped like railroad stations and trains and a large O-gauge model with a holiday-themed display.
Each visitor will be able to vote for their favorite trees. Local artists and bakers will judge the gingerbread displays. Voting ends Dec. 22.
"I think they're really different," James Adams, Carol's husband and museum treasurer, said.
Near the entrance of the exhibit is a "Home for the Holidays" display with a chair and photos of what it was like inside a large observation car in the "Crusader," an Amtrak car that runs between New York and Philadelphia and still sees a lot of passengers around the holidays.
The walls of the exhibit also have holiday paintings of downtown Hamburg and photographs of trains in snow and the Reading Railroad Choral Society.
"It helps add to the atmosphere," Carol Adams said.
The museum often has a variety of exhibits throughout the year. The goal is education.
"We want young folks to know what the Reading Railroad was and to appreciate that," Carol Adams said.
The holiday display also has photographs and information about the various social groups of the railroad, such as the Reading Railroad Choral Society.
"It was a big center of social activity as well as work," Carol Adams said. "You don't see that too often anymore."
The museum store has plenty of gifts for train lovers.
"Kids love trains and we have trains here for all ages," Steve Gilbert, a museum board member, said.
The "Trains, Trees and Gingerbread" exhibit opened Nov. 23 and runs to Jan. 26.
The museum will have a holiday display at the Fairlane Village mall with 90 plus feet of track. It is the 30th year for the layout.
They will also have a 112-foot display at the Pennsylvania State Christmas Show in Harrisburg from Dec. 4 through Dec. 8.
For more information, visit the museum's website at www.readingrailroad.org.