Magical Exhibit Features More Than 250 Toy Trains

Exhibit extended to February 3, 2008

A HOLIDAY FESTIVAL OF TRAINS PULLS INTO THE NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY
November 17th, 2007 through January 6th, 2008

Yorba Linda, California -- A playful special exhibit at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum will take visitors on a magical journey through the world of miniature trains when it rolls into town November 17 through January 6. One of the largest such collections ever assembled, A Holiday Festival of Trains features a breathtaking landscape with toy trains many whistling through tiny snow-covered villages and forested mountain passes with over 5,000 miniature trees.

Additional highlights include:

• “Mountain of Trains” featuring a multi-tiered platform 13’ tall by 40’ long by 32’ wide running more than 25 trains on 1,500 feet of track
• Long-running wall of trains featuring a classic collection of over 1,000 vintage engines and cars
• A special display of Lionel’s Hogwarts Express and Lego’s® Hogwarts Castle from the Harry Potter series
• Rare combination of six gauges favored by collectors, together in one exhibition, including: G, Standard, O, S, On30, and HO gauge
• Cast iron floor trains from the 1890s, and rare wind-up trains from the early 1900s
• Early 1920s Ives engine and passenger cars, known for rich lithography
• MTH tinplate, standard gauge train sets and accessories
• Buddy L locomotive, tender, and cars from the early 1930s
• Modern classics including Polar Express and Thomas the Tank Engine
• More than 100 scenic miniatures from Dept. 56, including North Pole, Dickens Village, Christmas in the City, Snow Village and Halloween
• San Francisco scene with a 14 foot long Golden Gate Bridge replica and running cable cars
• Bachmann’s “Whoville Special,” How the Grinch Stole Christmas Train HO set
• Circus scene including a Marx Super Circus play set
• Helicopter landing pad, including an operating Presidential model
• From December 8, 2007 through January 6, 2008, special weekday and weekend visits by a uniformed conductor volunteer

"This exciting exhibit builds on last year's successful show to create an even more enjoyable scene," Nixon Library curator Olivia Anastasiadis said. "Families who liked the 2006 exhibit will see a show that's almost entirely new, and those who missed the chance to visit last year have an opportunity to see something fun for everyone."

The exhibit was created through the pooled efforts and resources of the Western Division of the Train Collectors Association, the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace foundation, and the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. "We appreciate all of the hard work that the volunteers from the TCA put into this exhibit, and the support of the Nixon foundation as well," Anastasiadis said.

The exhibit reflects months of work from local volunteers of the Western Division of the Train Collectors Association, the leading national organization of train enthusiasts whose 30,000 members are dedicated to the collecting, preservation, and running of toy trains.

Led by Western Division Project Coordinator, Robert Lemberger and Wayne Sheriff, Western Division President, local TCA volunteers will assemble the tiny tracks, trestles, and holiday villages. Logging 12-hour days around the multi-tiered platform with its 144-feet perimeter, Lemberger says the exhibit has been a labor of love for the TCA volunteers.

The idea of a train exhibit reflects Richard Nixon’s love of trains beginning in his childhood in Yorba Linda. He recalled in his Memoirs one of the earliest memories from his Yorba Linda boyhood: In the daytime I could see the smoke from the steam engines. Sometimes at night I was awakened by the whistle of a train, and then I dreamed of the far-off places I wanted to visit someday.

A Holiday Festival of Trains will be on display from Saturday, November 17, 2007 through Sunday, January 6, 2008, and is included with museum admission. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is located at 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard, Yorba Linda, California 92886. The Library is open every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $9.95 adults; $3.75 children 7 to 11; free for children 6 and younger; $6.95 for seniors 62 and up, and students; $5.95 for active military. Group tour discounts are available. For additional information visit www.nixonlibrary.gov, or call (714) 983-9120; or www.nixonfoundation.org, or call (714) 993-5075.

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