Largest indoor train display in the world at new train lovers’ attraction

by Jamie Rhein on

Train-love runs deep in Ohio, there are scenic railroads, train stores, train societies, clubs of train watchers and old railroad station restaurants. Here is another example.

Friday, August 1 was the grand opening of EnterTRAINment Junction, a train attraction that is being billed as “the only train-themed family entertainment center in the world.” Located 30 miles north of Cincinnati, not far from Kings Island amusement park, makes this a place to pair with other family fun type ventures.

Geared to folks of all ages, EnterTRAINment Junction, boasts five separate sections. One of them houses the largest indoor train display in the world. What makes it the largest? There are 90 different trains that run on several different tracks through a variety of scenes and at various heights. Remember that’s just one section.

Another section houses the American Railroading Museum. Here, the history of railroading in the United States is traced.

Specifically designed to grab kids’ attention, the section Imagination Junction has interactive displays to keep kids busy and teach them about trains in the process.

Seasonal Junction, also interactive, is geared for both adults and children. This is a walk through type experience that will change throughout the year.

The last section is the Train Expo where train enthusiasts can show off their stuff and gather more information. Rotating trains exhibits, a library and artifacts are part of the offerings.

As mega attractions go, the cost for admission is not bad. Right now, everyone can get in for $9.95, except kids under 3 are free.

Ohio’s cinematic spots: An Intelligent Travel report

by Jamie Rhein on

Every time John Ur covers a state via its cinematic hot spots in his series “Cinematic Road Trip” for Intelligent Travel, I look to see which movies I’ve seen and what spots I know. It’s always a pleasure.

This week Ur hit Ohio. Ohio, as he found, is diverse. He did skip over Columbus. I’ll have to think about a movie that may have been filmed there. Columbus is not dull, but can slide under ones radar. Cleveland, however is not easy to miss. Christmas Story, one of Cleveland’s most well known films is one of my favorites and one that Ur covers.

Ur also hits Cincinnati. I am partial to Cincinnati since I grew up going here as a child and I know it well. However, I wasn’t aware that parts of Traffic was filmed here. Or perhaps I noticed this and forgot.

I do know of a couple Ohio locations on the silver screen that Ur missed. One can’t include everything, so this is no slight on Ur. He always does a fine job.

One movie is The Shawshank Redemption. The prison outside of Mansfield, the abandoned Ohio State Reformatory was one of the main locations. A friend of mine’s father was one of the extras.

Another film with Ohio scenes is Rain Man. One of Cincinnati’s most spectacular buildings, at least it’s my favorite, is Union Terminal. Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise spent some time here while looking for alternative transportation to California. The murals you see in the background as they walked through were done as a WPA project. The building is now mostly a museum center.

Another shot in this film is when the pair are in a car going from Cincinnati across the Ohio River on the Roebling Bridge. The bridge, also known as “The Singing Bridge” because of the sound it makes when cars go across, leads to Covington, Kentucky.

“Bodies” exhibit: a personal experience

by Jamie Rhein on

About two years ago, I saw the “Bodies” exhibit when it was in Cleveland. As I found out when reading Jaunted, there is a problem with the New York City exhibit. Perhaps, some of the people who were turned into plastic sans skin didn’t have a say in the matter.

In the exhibit literature I saw, there were many assurances that the people on display had agreed to be a museum piece before their deaths. There were detailed explanations about how the bodies were preserved. In general, I felt partly fascinated and partly uneasy. I was fascinated because this was a wonderful way to see how the body is put together and how the muscles and skeleton actually work.

The uneasy part came from human bodies being turned into sculptures. It’s not as if there was a check off list where the donor could make a request to be turned into a skateboarder or a ballet dancer. I’ve never been that flexible. It’s odd to think I could be made to look that way down the road and people could walk around me to catch a glimpse at all angles. One body where it looked as if the body had been exploded into hundreds of pieces, the pieces hung from fine threads from a metal frame, also gave me pause. My first thought was, what a nightmare to move. Can you imagine what it’s like to avoid tangles? It was cool for sure, but weird. I have to admit, I did like it.

People do have an interest in weirdness. We like being fascinated and slightly repulsed at the same time. In this case, big money has been made, and the integrity of the exhibits, perhaps, are not as pristine as we would hope. There are nine more besides the one in New York City.

I’m surprised that it’s taken so long for people to get to the bottom of where exactly all these bodies have come from–although it may be one or two tainted bodies have slipped in from China through the cracks in an otherwise well thought out system. Just like some toys and toothpaste from China were found to be dangerous, not all. But, like toothpaste, a body may be questionable. The majority of the bodies, however, may be legitimate, and a chosen few get to look in death as if they could soar over buildings in a single bound.

Latest mentos geyser world record event

by Jamie Rhein on

I recently found out that Leuven, Belgium has trumped Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2007, Epybird, the two guys that orchestrate mentos geysers, turned Fountain Square into more than 500 bottles of simultaneously shooting Diet Coke.

On April 23, 2008, a group of Belgian students donned blue raincoats, and, with the help of Epybird, turned Ladeuzeplein Square in Leuven into a mentos Diet Coke mess. It’s reported that 1,360 people participated in this latest Guiness World Record-breaking endeavor.

Sickness at water park thought to be virus related

by Jamie Rhein on

Last week it was reported that 90 people became sick after visiting Six Flags Great Escape Lodge and Indoor Water Park just north of Albany, New York. According to this subsequent report by the New York Department of Health, the number went up to 435 by the time the complaints stopped rolling in. People were suffering from gastrointestinal problems, although, the illnesses didn’t seem to be serious. Officials have found traces of norovirus called Norwalk virus that is passed around from sharing food and drink, touching contaminated surfaces and being in close proximity to people who have the virus. As a result, the employees of the park were giving it a real scrub down. The complaints have since stopped.

With water parks being such a perfect haven from the cold and dreariness of winter, I am surprised more people don’t get sick at them. However, in January, we went to a new water park minutes from Cincinnati with positive results.

When I walked into Coco Key, I noticed the smell of chlorine. It wasn’t overpowering but it was strong. We spent parts of two days floating in the lazy river, hanging out in the hot tub and taking some winding tube slide runs. Because this was during the middle of the week at the tail end of winter break, not many people were there. Getting sick wasn’t something I was thinking about.

Even though you’re surrounded by water at a water park and that might seem clean, following hygiene rules of not sharing food and washing ones hands often are a good idea. And if you have to cough or sneeze, put your forearm over your mouth and nose, not your hand.