Posted in partnership with Discover Green Bay

Trees, Train Cars, and Tradition

The Festival of Trees is an event that the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay hosts annually. In Mid-November and throughout December, the museum is decorated with dozens of unique trees. The trees are all sponsored by different businesses and organizations in our area. The trees tend to reflect the personalities of the establishments that they represent.

According to the museums’ numbers, the event attracts more than twenty-thousand visitors each holiday season! After visiting the event this year, I can see why it is so popular. The day after Christmas, my family and I headed to the National Railroad Museum to check out the event. As soon as we walked in, we got a taste of what was to come. The lobby featured several large and glittering trees. My favorite was a tree from the Green Bay Botanical Garden. It was covered in a gorgeous arrangement of flowers and pinecones. 

Beginning Our Tour in Fuller Hall

After getting our museum tickets, we entered exhibit space A: Fuller Hall. The first thing that caught my eye in this space was the Brown County Dairy Promotions tree. It had a cow tree topper that was just too cute. I also enjoyed the extremely shiny tree from American Antiques & Jewelry: it had a fun retro vibe.

In addition to the beautiful decor, this space held tons of Blatz, Pabst, and Schlitz memorabilia that accompanied the history of the Milwaukee Beer Line. The Beer Line is what the Milwaukee Road train route became known as since it served Milwaukee’s largest breweries. I recommend checking out the exhibit for a nice and detailed history!

Checking Out The Bauer Drumhead Gallery

In the next exhibit space, we got to see lots of train drumheads from the early 1900s to the 1970s. In case you didn’t already know, drumheads are big illuminated signs that trains used for identification and to promote themselves on the rails. Pretty cool, right?

Of course, we got to see more trees in this space too! The Green Bay Press-Gazette tree really stole the show for me. It was covered in a ton of mini newspapers and topped off with a huge red bow. 

Entering The Lenfestey Center & Touring the Rolling Stock

In the Lenfestey Center, we were greeted by lots of bright trees and some massive trains. Seriously, one of the locomotive’s nicknames was literally “Big Boy.” One of my favorite parts about this space was being able to actually board the trains and explore them. I loved looking out of the train windows and seeing the rows of glittering trees down below.

In between jumping on the Eisenhower, the Chicago & North Western Joseph Lister hospital car, and the Escanaba & Lake Superior Snow Plow, we toured the trees at ground level. My favorite tree in this space was definitely the Captain’s Walk Winery tree. It had a “blue Christmas” theme with wine bottles, wine glasses, and wine corks hanging all over it. Terror on the Fox had a very unique and spooky tree that was completed with a jack-o-lantern tree topper. My family loved the Frozen-themed tree; I think it was mostly because it featured a big and adorable Olaf. Berners Schober’s tree was also great. It featured mini home blueprints of a few homes in Green Bay along with other gold and paper ornaments. The tree felt very on-brand and was truly stunning. 

Heading Out to the McCormick Pavilion

It was a chilly winter day when we went to the museum, but we braved the cold to see the trains in the pavilion. The pavilion featured four tracks with a few trains on each track. Some of the trains we were able to jump on board and others we viewed on the outside. Looking in on one of the passenger trains, we were able to see lots of festive decorations and even a mini tree. It was a fun hidden gem!

Off The Rails and Heading Out

Personally, I had not been to the railroad museum in years, and I am not sure if my family had ever been, but we all loved the experience. It was just plain cool. None of us knew much about the railroad going into the museum, but we left knowing some fun facts and having more of an appreciation for railroad history. We also got to enjoy lots of holiday decor before 2023 is here!

If you are looking for a fun way to extend your holiday season, check out the Festival of Trees with some family or friends.