Christmas was over, but we all were still home for winter break. Looking for something fun, affordable, and foul-weather friendly. We needed an indoor activity that would be a bit of an adventure for all: my tween daughters, 5-year-old son, and myself.
How about the train museum? Even better, to make it an adventure, we’d ride Utah’s Front Runner passenger railway to Ogden, then walk to the museum.
Union Station
The Museums at Ogden Station fit the bill. In Ogden, about 50 miles north of Salt Lake City, the museums are housed in the old Union Train Station in Ogden, only about a 5-minute walk from the Frontrunner stop.
To the grownups, two of the best parts of Union Station are its location and its price.
Old Union Station is near historic 25th Street in Ogden. Ogden’s one of the more interesting towns in Utah, and a place everyone should check out.
The station itself is cavernous and beautifully painted. You can feel the rich history of rail travel when walking through. These days, Frontrunner and Amtrak load and unload at a newer station with zero the charm a couple of blocks away. Progress.
Admission prices are doable for any family. With tickets you get a wristband that grants access to all exhibits:
- Adults: $7
- Teens 13-17: $4
- Youth 3-12: $3
- Seniors 65 and older: $5
- Children 2 and under: Free
It’s a bargain adventure for a family.
Getting There by Riding the Rails
What better way to see trains than riding the trains?
Ogden’s about 50 miles north of the Salt Lake City area and easily accessible by I-15.
I hate I-15.
And besides, this needed to be an adventure. Enter Frontrunner.
Frontrunner is a passenger rail service ran by the Utah Transit Authority. It spans from Ogden, through Salt Lake City, and south to Provo. All together, that’s a little more than 80 miles and covers most of the Wasatch Front (the most heavily-populated area of Utah).
It’s a diesel train with double-decker passenger cars. Commuters make up most of the rideshare, and UTA services them with charging ports, WiFi, and tabletops for working at the seats.
The schedule is also commuter-centric. Frontrunner runs about every 30 minutes during peak travel times of the business day. But when demand is lower, it only comes about once an hour. So planning a trip takes some advance planning, and you’ll definitely want to check the time so you don’t miss your ride.
My kids and I are used to riding UTA’s lightrail (Trax) around Salt Lake City. Trax will conveniently get you where you need to go, but they’re also noisy and will also readjust your spine with their rattly, stop-and-go rides.
Compared to Trax Frontrunner is a Cadillac: Smooth, quiet, and as comfortable as a commuter rail can get.
And the cost was budget-friendly, too.
- Both tweens’ round-trip fare was under $7
- The 5-year-old was free
- I paid with a prepaid card which came out to $5.50
The Museums
Union Station holds several museums:
- Golden Age of Motorcars
- Browning at its Core
- Spencer and Hope Eccles Rail Center
- Riding in Style
- And the Wattis-Dumke Model Railroad
The last three are all train-related and in the same section of the museum. We focused our time there, as my son is train-crazy, and the girls like history, travel, and all things.
The Golden Age of Motorcars was a neat walk-through of about two dozen 20s and 30s-era luxury cars. Car people would like it.
We didn’t see the Browning gun museum, as the boy would have driven everyone crazy pretending to blast things all the rest of the day. That drives the girls crazy.
Trains
All the kids loved the train museums.
For younger kids, there’s an interactive play area. They could climb on a handcar, learn about hobo symbols, use a brakeman’s light, or practice morse code. (My 12-year-old learned how to spell “FART” in Morse Code, which should come in handy on the ol’ scholarship applications sometime soon).
A real cockpit of a Union Pacific Diesel engine was my son’s favorite part. A projection let him pretend he was driving the train through Utah’s countryside.
I geeked out on the history of the transcontinental railroad and a collection of train conductor’s fine pocket watches.
Everyone loved the Wattis-Dumke Model Railroad train sets way more than we expected to. Model trains run through diorama’s representing the west, including Golden Spike near Promontory Point, California, Wyoming, and more. The tiny, detailed trains were so cool to watch as they wound through the exhibit. We could have watched for hours and again, we’re not even model train people.
The “Riding in Style” exhibit covered the days of luxury train travel. It also went deeper, detailing Black Americans’ contributions to luxury train travel and to Ogden, as well as Ogden’s history of racial integration. (Again, Ogden is one of the most interesting cities in Utah).
Outside, a railyard housed several historic locomotives, ranging from turbine-powered speedsters to an old giant steam engine. There was also an Army field hospital train that looked like you could enter to explore most days, but on the day we were there it was locked shut).
Automobiles
Gearheads would love the “Golden Age of Motorcars” exhibit. This garage houses a family of restored vintage cars.
These machines have been lovingly restored and recall the days of luxury car travel in America. This is a walk-through exhibit, and not as interactive as the train museum.
Guns
If you like antique firearms, the “Browning at its Core” details the lives and weapons by Ogden’s Browning family.
Historic military and civilian guns are on display, as are a collection of miniatures.
The girls and I don’t really care about guns and nobody wanted to get the boy fired up, so we skipped this one. But if anyone in the family is interested, it’s definitely worth a look and is included in museum admission.
Way back
We hit the play area one more time before heading back to the train station. We made it about 10 minutes before the Frontrunner departed (Ogden is the end of the line, so a train will arrive, deboard, and sit on the tracks a bit before heading back in the other direction). It was plenty of time to board and find seats.
Thanks to the smoothness of the Frontrunner, we were all able to relax on the way back. My oldest daughter actually napped in her seat, my younger daughter read her book, and my son stared out the window as we rolled past houses, farms, and fields and other trainyards.
Mission accomplished.
Boomtown - Dustin Hughes' blog 