CELEBRATING TRAIN DAY? It doesn't really have to involve anything special or fancy. You can go to your local station and watch the commuter trains come and go for an hour, or even buy a ticket and board one, if you have the time. You can watch one of the great vintage train movies, the ones fully set on in a rail car or partially set on a rail car, to admire how people used to travel ("The Music Man," "Some Like It Hot, and "North by Northwest" all feature terrific train scenes.) You can catch your favorite train-centered television show, or dig into a novel, or kid's classic, that have tracks running down the plot's center. Or you can go to a train, and if you have a tot who is train-obsessed, you can find a train that is just right for the younger set. There are a number around California, and one of the sweetest choo-choos at The Living Desert in Palm Springs. It's the...
GARDEN RAILROAD, and the pint-sized engine'll be marking National Train Day a few days early on Saturday, May 6. A "scavenger hunt" and "special trackless train rides" are part of the sweet scene, as is the Choo-Choo-Churro special. There shall be train-oriented chats, too, and a conductor hat giveaway (while, of course, the hats last). How to attend? Simply pay your admission to The Living Desert. How to spend the day? After all the train fun, make sure to make time to wave at the tortoises, and giraffes, and the other denizens of the desert-based preserve.
