Botanica Train Garden:
Hours:
- The Train Garden is typically open from mid-March to mid-October, but Botanica is open all year.
Price: Free to see the trains with Admission
About the Gene E. Spear Railroad at Botanica:
This is an outdoor train garden designed and maintained by the Wichita Area Garden Railway Society, the Gene E. Spear Railroad Gardenfills a wooden hillside tucked behind the Sally Stone Sensory Garden. Model passenger, freight and work trains feature realistic replicas and run daily.
Traveling through miniature communities, landscapes and countryside, the model railroad garden operates from March through September and during Illuminations, weather permitting. Thoughtful details build the bright world around them and delight Botanica visitors of every age.
- Passenger trains are streamliner cars pulled by F-7 diesels in the Santa Fe War Bonnet paint scheme.
- Freight trains include various engines pulled by a Mikado Steam locomotive.
- Work trains are cars used in the Maintenance of Way (MOW) and pulled by a small 20-ton diesel.
- During Illuminations, the Polar Express, a Mikado, leads standard Pullman-type passenger cars with figures of children and baggage cars.
- The track is Gauge One and made of brass with plastic ties. The model trains are scaled relative to the size of real trains at the ratio of approximately ½ inch to one foot.
- Trains on the tracks are subject to change based on availability.
Great Plain Transoprtaion Musuem:
- Hour:
- April – October
- Saturdays from 9 am – 4 pm
- Sundays from 1 pm – 4 pm
- November- March
- Saturdays from 9 am – 4 pm
- April – October
- Admission:
- $7 adults (13 and older)
- $4 youth (ages 2-12)
- Children Free (ages 3 and under)
- 700 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67202
About Great Plains Transportation Museum:
The Great Plains Transportation Museum (GPTM) displays a wide assortment of railroad equipment.
Our two largest displays are Santa Fe steam locomotive #3768 and Santa Fe FP45 diesel #93.
These locomotives are unique in our collection in that they represent the last class of passenger locomotives that were built for the Santa Fe in their respective eras.
Indoor exhibits include railroad prints, signs, lanterns, tools, and other artifacts including a mock-up mechanical stoker used for training steam locomotive personnel. We invite you to visit the Great Plains Transportation Museum to learn more about these and many other historical pieces and displays.
