Hartmann Model Railroad and Toy Museum

Attracted by a brochure picture showing a gentleman piloting what appeared to be the fabled "crotch rocket" sized miniature train, Damian and I rolled up on Hartmann and his Model Railroad and Toy Museum. The crotch rocket turned out to be a model train of closer to "normal" size but too small for two unrelated grown up men to comfortably ride in the middle of the afternoon with children present.

The highlight of this rather astounding collection of model trains and toys is this n-gauge round loop housed in an old coin operated television case. A winter scene, naturally.  Whether watching a tiny train revolve around a fake snow covered lump is better or worse than watching a color television is not for me to judge.

Ol' Smokey

The Clinch Park Marina steam train endlessly circles the spot where the Clinch Park Zoo in Traverse City, Michigan stood for 50 years. The zoo left in 2006, leaving behind a field of massive fake rocks made of concrete, oddly positioned and decorated buildings, and a rock with a Sesquicentennial plaque leaning against it. The city may have renamed the train to encourage riders to look out and see the marina rather than look inside the circle at the former zoo grounds.