As you know, Pilentum lives in Germany. But Pilentum knows that there are many wonderful model railroad displays in the United States. A great desire of Pilentum is to visit the US once to film these great model train layouts. Unfortunately, the travel costs from Germany to the US are very high. But in order to present some of the most impressive model railways Pilentum asked the Choo Choo Barn for getting some video footage. So this video was created.
Now, you should ask yourself why Pilentum did choose the Choo Choo Barn. The reason is the extraordinary story behind this model railroad exhibit. The Choo Choo Barn was originally born in 1945, in the basement of the Groff home in Strasburg. George Groff had just returned from World War II, and was looking for a Christmas present for his son Gary. He found a $ 12.50 Lionel model train set. And, one thing led to another - within few years - that simple train set had begun to take over a larger and larger portion of the family basement. In the 1950’s, the Groff family began opening their model railroad display for neighbors, townspeople and local school groups during the Christmas holidays.
The exhibition became very popular so that the Groff family decided to move the model railroad into a small township maintenance facility. Then, the Choo Choo Barn, as George decided to call his display, opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1961, and it was very quickly a hit with local folks and visitors alike. With over 600 square feet of detailed landscaping, 6 trains, and 6 animated figures, people knew they were seeing something special and unique.
Over the years, the display continued to grow. The train layout has grown into an attraction for all ages and all groups. There are miniature replicas of The Willows Restaurant, Dutch Wonderland amusement park, the Strasburg Railroad, and a scale version of the Groff family home. Today, the Choo Choo Barn is a 1,700 square feet model train layout.
