How to go
What: Muggles Express with LM&M Railroad and the Golden Lamb
When: July 30; 4:30 and 8 p.m. (dinner times), 6:30 (departure time)
Where: Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad, 127 S. Mechanic St., Lebanon
Cost: $59.99 (adults), $49.99 (children aged 2-16), $24 (script book)
More info: 513-933-8022 or www.lebanonrr.com
When you own a passenger train for commercial entertainment purposes, synching it with the latest “Harry Potter” release might seem like a no-brainer.
With the opening of the play “Harry Potter & The Cursed Child, Part I & II” in London this week and the release of the script book for the play here in the U.S. on July 31, the Muggles Express at LM&M Railroad will ride for the first time since 2010.
“It always went over very well, so we thought we’d bring it back,” said Cyndee O’Quinn, general manager of the LM&M (Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad). “People have grown up on (the books), people ranging from 13 all the way to their early 30s. It’s nostalgia.”
Riders are encouraged to dress up as their favorite “Harry Potter” character for the event, which includes the train ride and dinner at the Golden Lamb, a historic restaurant in Lebanon. Various rooms in the Golden Lamb will be decorated like famous areas in and around Hogwart’s Castle, including the Great Hall, the Leaky Cauldron, and three out of the four House dormitories (Hufflepuff, deemed the least significant, was left out).
To accommodate the anticipated number of riders and dining tastes, people have the option of eating before or after the train ride, which is a round trip throughout Warren County.
“The train can hold twice as many people as the Golden Lamb can,” O’Quinn said. “So it made sense to have just the one train ride.”
Dinner will be fried chicken, corn on the cob, roasted red potatoes, chocolate frogs, a Hogwart’s salad (coleslaw with raisins) and a Muggle Sweet (forbidden Yule log). Beverages are soda, coffee, and tea. Alcoholic drinks are available for an additional cost.
The LM&M has also acquired 50 “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” script books, which will be available for purchase for an additional $24. These can be reserved along with your ticket on a first-come, first-served basis.
In addition to passengers dressed up as “Harry Potter” characters, there will be several actors on hand dressed up, as well. Unfortunately, due to legal issues, the LM&M Railroad couldn’t call themselves the Hogwart’s Express.
“Technically, we’re all Muggles,” O’Quinn said. “So it works out.”
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