Jackson Street Roundhouse

Nice railroad historical museum with a short train ride included with entrance fee. Run by very enthusiastic volunteers. Had to say thank you four times and escape to the bathroom to get out of a couple lectures we didn't ask for.Love the enthusiasm but wanted to just look at stuff ourselves after 5 minutes. We're more readers and enjoyed the plaques and write ups discovering info ourselves. Interesting for kids a bit older but saw lots of toddlers exploring. Interesting for a couple hours. Some awkward stairs into some of the outdoor exhibits that could be difficult.

Another great kids railroad museum in the twin cities! This one is more interactive than others, you can explore old rail cars and even take a train ride.We did the Santa train this past winter. Admission got us into the museum plus a quick train ride on a car decorated for Christmas time.

This is a great place for kids and adults alike. City libraries hand out free passes to this museum as well among other touristy places in and around Twin Cities area. Otherwise, the entrance fee is $10 and includes a twenty minute bus ride on Jackson St through downtown St. Paul and a caboose ride too.Inside this place is magical for history and train lovers. Old steam engines, coaches and some really old exhibits from early 19th century and beginning of 20th century. The caboose ride is cool. The roundhouse turntable is fascinating and believed to be one of the last of its kind in the country. One thing to remember is that the museum is open only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It's a nice place for a weekend activity for kids and a cheap date for couples.

Great spot for young and old. This museum is the place to go for Railroad history housed in the historic Great Northern Roundhouse which was built in 1907. There is an awesome collection of railroad china, other railroad memorabilia and docents willing to answer questions. Included in the price is a caboose ride along the Burlington Northern Railroad active line

Another great, small, quirky museum. The transportation museum includes the Jackson Street Roundhouse, which predictably is mostly trains. They also have a pretty good bus, exhibit, including a vintage bus tour of transportation highlights of downtown St. Paul The employees here really know their history and do a nice job of relaying it to the public. The bust tour was probably the highlight, though my son really enjoyed the caboose ride. In the latter, they drag you in a vintage caboose about 100 yards up and down the tracks. I think the train museum in Duluth has a better collection of restored trains, but the St. Paul Paul museum has the advantage of being in the roundhouse which is just really cool. Over the years, I've become kind of a train nerd and I love seeing the old Art Deco streamline trains. The sad thing about the museum is that you realize how fragile these things are even though they were made of steel. All that exists of the great lines of the 30s and 40s are brochures, which the museum has on display and a few artifacts like dishes and uniforms. My son really enjoyed this museum. He especially enjoyed the play area which has an extensive Thomas the Tank collection. Most of the kids at the museums wound up there, while their parents either roamed the exhibits or just took advantage of the downtime to have a nice think.

Don't you just love it when museums that are fun for two year olds are fun for adults too? I do, and Jackson Street Roundhouse is one of these places. $10 gets you into the train museum and on a 20 minute train ride. My little guy loved the train conductor simulator. You sit in front of a screen that makes it look like you are driving along a train track and it even has all the buttons and switches of an old train. The kid NEVER sits still, and he was captivated by this thing for a good twenty minutes (that's like 3 hours in toddler time for any non-parents reading this). We both enjoyed exploring all the old restored train cars and pretending we were going on a trip. I liked learning more about the history of trains in St Paul and imagining what this place must have looked like back in the day. There were also some great old signs, paintings and newspaper clippings mixed in with all the train memorabilia that I enjoyed checking out as well. The staff here are excellent. They are all volunteers and you can tell that they are very passionate about what they do-very knowledgeable and great with kids. Great Saturday morning family activity.

The Jackson Street Roundhouse is part of the Minnesota Transportation Museum and affliated with the Osceola and St Croix Vlly Railway. The folks at this museum are extremely friendly. BNSF railroad main line passes just outside the facility. The museum has a really interesting Centralised Traffic Control Panel screen showing in real time the trackage through the Twin Cities from the perspective of the system wide nerve center in Fort Worth, Tx. At any time, one may ask for a personal guided tour of the shop area, and it is here that one can see projects such as NP 2156 steam engine. In the main exhibit area of the museum area displayed five pieces of rolling stock; a highlight are two wonderfully restored coaches, the Gopher/Grand Marais coach, 1892, and the Drover's coach,1893. One total surprise was seeing the Dan Patch or Minneapolis, St Paul, Rochester & Dubuque Electric Traction Co. 1913 #100 first internal combustion locomotive in America (rebuilt today from two 175 hp V8 to diesels) . The museum also has a collection of classic public buses. I was given a personal tour of the machine shop. One other note, during my visit, the was a jazz trio playing background music. Outside are the many pieces of rolling stock, some which were in great condition and also a turntable. Around the neighborhood are some bldgs which were part of the historic railroad facility, now converted into business space.

We did a birthday party here for a 6 year old. You get your own train car (3 tables) that's handicapped accessible (a lot of the museum is accessible by wheelchair). It included a ride on the train (Birthday boy rode in the engine). There is a lot to see and it was enjoyable for the whole family. Unless you are really a train family it's probably worth a trip every couple of years.

This is a very interactive train museum, a former steam engine maintenance facility. Open Wed. and Sat. 10-4 **Great for kids of all ages, my 2 year old and husband both love the museum. There's train tables (incl Thomas Trains), electric model trains, antique cars to explore and an engine and caboose SOO Line ride that lasts about 10 minutes. We were there about 2 1/2 hours. http://www.mtmuseum.org/jsrh.shtml

Booked for the Haunted Roundhouse and had certain expectations. The posting mentioned there would be hot dogs, s'mores and other treats. Our reservation was for 2 p.m. and there was no one serving up any of those things. When asked they said they finished at 2:30. No announcements were made for the very short train ride under 8 min or so in both directions. We were able to catch a ride by remaining on the train until a few more people showed. Place does house some historic and awesome vintage train cars and other artifacts but the setup of the museum is dingy and cluttered with little to no direction about the event one books.