Holiday Junction#Duke Energy Holiday Trains
{{Short description|Annual model train display in Cincinnati, Ohio, US}}
{{distinguish|Holliday junction}}
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{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
Holiday Junction Featuring the Duke Energy Holiday Trains is a rail-themed holiday event held annually since 1996 at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio.{{cite news|title=Jump Aboard 'Holiday Junction' at the Museum Center|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|date=November 22, 1997|department=Holiday Style|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87747855/|via=Newspapers.com}} Its main attraction is a much older model railroad display, which is owned by CSX Transportation and sponsored by Duke Energy.
Duke Energy Holiday Trains
The Duke Energy Holiday Trains are the event's most well-known model railroad display. While located in the Duke Energy building in downtown Cincinnati, it was maintained by a team of employees and retirees of the Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company (CG&E) and its successors, Cinergy and Duke Energy. The O scale display measures {{convert|36+1/2|x|47+1/2|ft}} and includes about 300 train cars and 50 locomotives running on more than {{convert|1000|ft}} of track, representing {{convert|9|mi}} at scale.{{cite press release|title=The Duke Energy/CSX Holiday Train Celebrates 63 Years|publisher=Duke Energy|date=2008-10-01|accessdate=2009-01-14|url=http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2008100102.asp|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926184720/http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2008100102.asp|archivedate=2009-09-26}} It is powered by a 12-volt system. It depicts the Cumberland Subdivision between the late 1930s and early 1950s. A rural station within the display is modeled on Point of Rocks station in Maryland.{{cite news|title=A 50-Year Track Record|first=Owen|last=Findsen|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|pages=18–19|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107802160/|via=Newspapers.com}}
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) originally built it in 1936 at a cost of ${{format price|50000}}. It went on tour throughout the B&O's service area until 1946, when the railroad decided to end the tour. It planned to place the model on permanent display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. However, the B&O partnered with CG&E to keep the display in Cincinnati in the lobby of the utility's headquarters, where the event became a popular annual Christmas tradition. The event ran 41 days each year. Admission was free, and organizers handed out popcorn and later cookies to children in attendance. Over the years, the display has been expanded and embellished with many decorative scenes. The first building, a slaughterhouse, was added in 1939. In 2010, the display attracted 300,000 visitors, bringing the total attendance over 65 seasons to more than 9 million.{{cite news|title=Train display at new home|first=Cliff|last=Radel|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|date=September 30, 2011|pages=C1–C2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15694380/20110930cinti-enquirerpage-20train/|via=Newspapers.com}} [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15694417/20110930cintienquirerpage21train/] In 2011, Duke moved the display to the museum center, which incorporated it into the existing Holiday Junction event.{{cite press release|title=Our Holiday Trains have a new home|publisher=Duke Energy|year=2011|accessdate=September 17, 2013|url=http://www.duke-energy.com/community/programs/train.asp|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312141621/http://www.duke-energy.com/community/programs/train.asp|archivedate=March 12, 2012}} Original portions of the display continue to be owned by the B&O's successor, CSX Transportation.
Other model train displays
Holiday Junction also features a {{convert|20|x|30|ft|adj=on}} G scale model and an HO scale model built by local model railroad clubs.{{cite news|title=Nostalgia trip|first=Connie|last=Yeager|work=The Cincinnati Post|date=November 25, 1997|page=1B|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107807485/|via=Newspapers.com}}
The museum center also houses the Cincinnati History Museum's Cincinnati In Motion exhibit, a scale model of the city that includes model streetcars.
See also
References
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External links
- {{Official website|https://www.cincymuseum.org/holiday-junction/}}
Category:Model railway shows and exhibitions
Category:Cincinnati Union Terminal
Category:Festivals in Cincinnati
Category:Festivals established in 1946
Category:Festivals established in 1996