Kiddieland Trains and Hesston Steam Museum

Today's topic is the Kiddieland Amusement Park trains, and Hesston Steam Museum.

I grew up minutes away from Kiddieland Amusement Park in Melrose Park, Illinois. I visited there quite often as a youth in the '80s and '90s. Easily my favorite ride was the kiddie train. In particular the red and yellow diesel train which was usually out except for special events where the steam train was running as well. After Kiddieland's closing in 2009 the steam train was purchased by Hesston Steam Museum in LaPorte, Indiana.

Over the summer I visited Hesston Steam Museum twice, once for their Civil War Days and again for their Labor Day event. Their Civil Wars Days events was very limited due to still easing from Covid phase to normal phase. Only one train was running for the Civil War reenactment. So that was a pretty quick visit.

My second return for their Labor Day event was much more normal. All trains of varying sizes were running, include the return of the Kiddieland steam train! I had the opportunity to ride the Kiddieland steam train for the first time since 2009. And I was lucky enough to ride it twice that afternoon!

Hesston Steam Museum is a very nice place. They have several historical artifacts and displays throughout the property. If you are expecting something as expansive as the Illinois Railway Museum or an indoor museum such as East Troy, Wisconsin, you will probably be disappointed. In fact, other than few artifacts in the gift shop I was unable to find much in the way of an official indoor museum. Doc's Soda Fountain is a big hit there, but to me the winner here is their trains and the woods they traverse through. It is absolutely beautiful and the trains are very well cared for. Their tiny ride on trains go over and under bridges. It is so cute and everything is run by volunteers.

Check out the series of videos I uploaded from my recent visits there. As well I recompiled some old footage from my last Kiddieland visits in 2009 riding both the diesel and steam train. Please check out my channel and subscribe. Thank you for the support! :-)