GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Public Museum is bringing back some Grand Rapids holiday history this season.
Starting Saturday, November 17, the Herpolsheimer's Child Passenger Train will be back for holiday visitors. The train used to be suspended from the ceiling of the toy department of Herpolsheimer's Department Store which used to be at the corner of Fulton and Division in downtown Grand Rapids. The monorail train was first on display in 1949 as "Santa's Rocket Express."
The train was given to the museum in 2000. In 2010, the museum contracted David Winick to restore the train to its original theme. Winick used a December 1955 Life magazine photo as his guide. The restoration was recently finished with funding from the Collections & Cocktails event.
“We’re pleased to have this old favorite on display this holiday season,” said Dale Robertson, President and CEO of the Grand Rapids Public Museum in a press release. “As the keeper of the community’s treasures and history, it is our job to preserve them and make them available to the public. We hope families will visit the Museum this holiday season to take a walk down memory lane.”
The Herpolsheimer’s Child Passenger Train will be on display on the first floor of the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Van Andel Museum Center, and will be included with general admission to the Museum. The Streets of Old Grand Rapids exhibition is also now fully decorated for the holidays and the Planetarium Let It Snow show begins November 23.
For more on the "Snowflake Break" and more holiday events at the museum, visit grpm.org.
