Brandywine Museum Opens Its Holiday Railroad
Published: November 13, 2026
By: Adam Burns
The holiday model railroad at the Brandywine Museum of Art opens Saturday, November 14, 2026, and runs through January 10, 2027. The museum exhibition page calls the Brandywine Railroad a holiday favorite since 1972. Trains run on 2,000 feet of track among more than 1,000 pieces: locomotives, passenger and freight trains, and trolleys through a village, a farm, factories, a drive-in movie theater, and a carnival.
CAPTION. CREDIT.
What is on the layout
The page describes an O-gauge layout with both toy trains and scale models. It names Lionel, Williams, Atlas, Mike’s Train House, K-line, and others. Visitors can use push buttons and foot pedals on the display. Support listed for the railroad is the Davenport Family Foundation Fund for Exhibitions, J.P. Morgan, Bentley Systems, and Herr’s.
The railroad is shown with the rest of Holidays at Brandywine, including trees trimmed with handmade Critter ornaments and a separate illustration show, Greeting Seasons: Wintry Joy in Children’s Illustration. The exhibition page says both the railroad and that illustration show are included in general holiday admission.
Hours and holiday admission
The hours and admission page sets holiday hours at 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day from November 14 through January 10. The museum is closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve it closes at 1 p.m. From December 18 through January 3, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays stay open until 8 p.m., except Christmas Day, which falls on Friday, December 25.
Holiday admission is $25 for adults, $23 for seniors 65 and older, $10 for students with ID, and $10 for youth ages 4 through 17. Children ages 3 and under are free. Members of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art are free. The same page warns that tickets bought for the regular season, through November 13, are not valid during the holiday season. A reader holding one of those tickets needs a holiday ticket.
Library community passes are not valid November 22 through 28, or from December 18, 2026, through January 10, 2027. Free First Sundays are not offered in December or January. The page also says active-duty military personnel are admitted free through the year, and veterans get $5 off adult admission, with ID. An ACCESS or EBT card, with a photo ID, admits up to four family members at $2 each. That rate is not valid for special programs or studio tours.
A few dated visits, and how to get there
The exhibition page lists Breakfast with the Trains on November 21, November 29, December 12, and December 13, from 8:30 to 10 a.m. That visit is early access to the railroad plus a continental breakfast in the Millstone Café. It does not print a price for the breakfast. Sensory-friendly access to the railroad is listed for November 19 and January 8, from 5 to 7 p.m., for people on the autism spectrum or with a sensory processing disorder, and their families.
The directions page places the museum at 1 Hoffman’s Mill Road, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 19317. It says northbound and southbound Amtrak trains stop at Wilmington, Delaware, and that there is no public transportation to the museum. Membership, which includes free admission, is on the museum membership page linked from the hours page.
Related reading on American-Rails.com
Sources
- Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art, “Holidays at Brandywine,” brandywine.org/museum/exhibitions/brandywine-railroad, read November 13, 2026. November 14, 2026, through January 10, 2027. Layout since 1972. Hours, the two special visits, and the sponsor line are on that page.
- Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art, “Hours & Admission,” brandywine.org/museum/visit/hours-admission, read November 13, 2026. Holiday fares, the warning on regular-season tickets, community-pass blackout days, military and ACCESS rates, and the note that Free First Sundays are not offered in December or January.
- Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art, “Directions,” brandywine.org/museum/visit/directions, read November 13, 2026. Address 1 Hoffman’s Mill Road, Chadds Ford, PA 19317. No public transportation to the museum.
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