Check Out this Hidden Gem: Mississippi Train Museum

I love to find unique activities to do with our kids.  My sister lives in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and when we visited a couple years ago, we headed to Gulfport, Mississippi to check out the Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Museum.  This little museum looks small from the outside, but there is so much to see and do inside!  It truly is a hidden gem! We made sure to add it to this year’s trip too!

The museum is dedicated to bringing the spirit of the American Railroad back to life.  The museum is home to the largest Lego railroad display in Mississippi!  They have multiple scale model train layouts, elevated ground level scale trains, interactive layouts for kids to operate and enjoy, outdoor garden displays and multiple riding trains.

Legos, Legos, Legos!

My kids (and my husband) are Lego fanatics so seeing a variety of built scenes and statues was right up their alley.  And because this is a train museum, there are plenty of trains too! The scenery around many of the displays are built out of Legos.  In addition, they have a variety of Lego kits built and sitting on shelves for you to view as well.  My kids love to look at all of the different characters and sets.

Outdoor Fun

Outside they have K’nex displays as well as additional train displays.  My niece is a dinosaur fan so she was pretty excited to see the Jurassic Park display!  They have a few Thomas the Train motorized trains for the kids to ride as well as a large motorized train that meanders through the outdoor train displays and even goes through a tunnel.  Parents are welcome hop on this ride too!

Need to tire out your kiddos?  Have them give the hand-crank trains a try! This activity certainly gives the kids a workout, but they have fun!  My youngest niece is four and not quite 30 pounds yet, but she made it around the track!

Scavenger Hunt

Inside the second building, there are even more train displays.  One of our favorite parts of the museum is the scavenger hunt.  On the displays, you’ll find scavenger hunt sheets where you can find different items or characters in the display.  My kids have always loved the seek-and-find type books and my husband and I grew up on Where’s Waldo so we love searching through the displays to find all of the items on the list.

The last train display before you head out includes Lego scenes from over 25 movies.  It’s fun to see if you can find all the different characters or items depicting each movie.  This portion of the museum also includes the area where the models are built.  Their employees and volunteers are so passionate about the museum and how it runs.  We spent a good portion of our time watching and learning about how the models are created.

Fun for the Entire Family!

We had four adults and five kids ranging from four years old to thirteen and everyone had a good time!  There truly is something for everyone.  Even if you’re not totally into trains, I can assure you that looking at their models and seeing all the details will be worth your time.  Activities are usually pretty expensive for a family of five, but this activity was under $20 so it’s incredibly reasonable!

If you’re in Coastal Mississippi or near Gulfport, I encourage you to check the museum out!  Be sure to head to their website for the most current details on pricing, hours and location.  They are preparing to move right across the street into a larger building so their address will be changing.  At the time we visited, their hours were Wed-Sun 12pm-5pm (closed Monday & Tuesday).  They operate on donations and have a suggested donation of $5 for adults and $2 for children.  I can tell you that your donation will be appreciated and totally worth the cost!

Need ideas for other family day trips (no matter where you live)? If so, check out this post!

What Suggestions do you have?

Have you visited this museum?  What was your favorite part?  Are there other local train or Lego museums that you suggest?  We’d love to hear about them!