Snowflake Special opening sees high turnout

The Customs House Snow Flake Special proves to be an attractive draw for the child in all of us.

Snow Flake Special Emblem

The opening weekend of the Snow Flake Special model train exhibit at the Customs House Museum drew  high attendance numbers. Total attendance for “first  Sunday” visitors  alone exceeded two-hundred-forty-five visitors.

The model train exhibit is an all-volunteer effort of the model train enthusiasts group, ‘Last Train to Clarksville,’ as a gift to the museum and the community. The look on faces of the children as they watch the moving trains makes all the time and effort invested worthwhile for the members and the museum staffers as well.

Winter Wonderland section of the display

Special features have been added to the layout for this year’s Snow Flake Special display. Activation buttons line the exterior walls of the layout room. By pressing these buttons, visitors can activate the watchmen in the train yard tower, light up the Christmas tree sale lot, let the kids play on the swing set, herd reindeer, or corral cattle into the stockyards. Visitors can also see a snowball fight, watch the workers in the chocolate factory, see Santa’s balloon go round, light up the service station, activate the Ferris wheel, fly the helicopter, operate the mine, play on the ice skating rink and see the lumberjacks cut wood.

All that activity goes on as the trains make their rounds, moving along tracks that traverse tunnels, bridges, stockyards, loading and unloading depots, oil well shipping depots,  and mountain top drive-in movie theater. For the youngest visitors,  Thomas the Train runs on his own track as  wonderful sounds of ‘choo-choo’ sounds echo throughout the  display.

Two sisters activate the ice rink feature

In addition to the museum’s current offering of the Yousuf Karsh Portraiture collection, Richard Barnes’ Power of Domesticity — TVA Architectural Legacy, the AHDC Student Art Gallery and the Art of Architecture exhibit, the finalized Wilma Rudolph exhibit, the Winter Wonderland model trains exhibit lends a well-rounded perspective to the attractions at the Customs House Museum.

Age is no barrier to enjoying an outing to the Customs House Museum. While the museum is closed for Thanksgiving, it will re-open on Friday with children’s activities from 10am to 5pm. The Snow Flake Special will make its routes from 1pm to 4pm. Regular admission fees and discounts apply. Located at 200 South Second Street, the museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Closed Mondays and major holidays. For more info, call 931-648-5780.

Story photos by Turner McCullough Jr.