Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum

 What do you do when your collecting hobby gets out of control? Start a museum, of course!  Allan Robert Miller and his son, Allan Raymond began collecting toy trains in the 1970s and soon expanded into collecting all kinds of toys. 

This amazing collection of toys and games is housed in a 1907 former school. Each room has a different theme - board games, HO-gauge and O-Gauge trains, a giant puzzle and Disney toys, a K-nex amusement park, local history, and cars, trucks, and trains from the 1800’s to the present. Most of the rooms have toys and games that visitors are permitted to play with. The first floor center hall features a large Lego display. The second floor has a case filled with dozens of bobbleheads. 

The old metal toys are beautifully crafted. 

The entire basement is filled with Snoopy memorabilia, a collection donated by Dr. William Mercer, a local Wheeling doctor. 

The accessible entrance is on north side of the building. Call to have someone open the door. Once inside the floor slopes down steeply before leveling out. A small elevator, operated by the staff, provides access to all the floors. All the rooms are accessible. 

RVs will fit in the lot if parked across the spaces. Museum 40.04076, -80.65856

 

 

Biosphere 2

Biosphere 2 (Earth is Biosphere 1) was built as a self contained, experimental project with a rainforest, ocean, wetlands, grassland, a desert, and an agricultural area plus living quarters and work spaces for eight people. The project was meant to test the viability of a closed system and to gain knowledge that would be beneficial for survival on another planet. 

The eight people, four women and four men, entered the biosphere on September 26, 1991 and stayed for exactly two years. But all was not well. The crew had to break into their emergency food supply because the crops weren't growing fast enough and some plants and animals died. They did manage to produce 83 percent of their food but all crew members lost weight. The most serious problem was lack of oxygen caused by microbes in the soil that produced carbon dioxide faster than the plants could produce oxygen. Sixteen months into the experiment pure oxygen was pumped into Biosphere 2 to protect the crew who suffered from a decline in physical and mental health from the lack of oxygen. 

A second crew entered the biosphere in 1994 but that experimental lasted for just six months due to management disputes. Although the projects are often considered failures much was learned about sustaining plant and animal life a totally enclosed system.

Starting in 1995, the biosphere was used for research by Columbia University. The University of Arizona took over in in 2007 and eventually purchased the site. Today research projects include studying the terrestrial water cycle and how it relates to ecology, atmospheric science, soil geochemistry, and climate change.

Tours of Biosphere 2  are self-guided with a phone app that must be downloaded before starting the tour. The tour lasts about 75 minutes and covers about a mile. There are two guided tours but neither is accessible.

         Airlock door                               Living quarters

This is one of the most interesting things. There are two "lungs" that were designed to accept air from the biosphere as it expanded during the hotter parts of the day. Without the lungs the glass panels would have popped out.

We were very impressed with the amount of planning done to make the self-guided tour as accessible as possible. After we bought our tickets we were given directions to the accessible path and were met at each stop when necessary to receive more specific directions. Back tracking was necessarily at several spots. A small elevator used only by wheelchair visitors and a lift up a short flight of stairs provide access to two areas. There's one long switchback ramp. The kitchen, dining area, and I think one of the ecosystems were not accessible due to steps. 

The parking lot is large enough for any vehicle. Biosphere   32.57734, -110.85084

Oneida Community Mansion House

Utopian communal societies were common in the US during the 19th century. Many of these communities practiced celibacy so, without a steady supply of new members, they soon died out. The Oneida Community faced a different problem. One of their beliefs, as  part of their communal lifestyle, was free love - community members, along with property and chores were shared. Strong emotional attachments were discouraged even between parents and their children Children could stay with their mothers for 18 months; after that they lived in the Children's Department. Parents could visit their children for a few hours a week. These beliefs were rejected by the young members of the community. Some moved away but came back when the community was breaking up in 1879. The property and businesses became a joint-stock company with members receiving shares  of stock. 

While the communal experiment only lasted from 1848 to 1880, the community factories continued to be successful, producing animal traps, canned goods, and silk thread. In the early 1900s these product lines where discontinued and the company focused on their Oneida flatware line which had been started in 1890. The company was bought in 2005 by Liberty Tabletop and is the only US based manufacturer of flatware. 

 

The Mansion House has been continuously occupied since 1862 when the original frame house was replaced with a brick structure. Several additions were added to surround a courtyard. Today the mansion is a museum but it's also a bed and breakfast with access to a lounge and public library. The large community rooms can be rented for events.

The rooms that are open to museum visitors include exhibit rooms, the community library, the nursery kitchen, the community hall, a typical bedroom, and a sitting room. 

The accessible entrance is in the courtyard. Follow the sidewalks to the south side of the mansion and the courtyard entrance. Once inside work your way to the front of the mansion and admissions desk. You'll be going through the guest area of the mansion and it's a little confusing.  A small elevator accesses the second floor and a roll on lift provides access down a short flight of stairs to the exhibit rooms. This lift is not used often and when we visited the docent didn't know how to operate it so we thumped down the stairs. There's a short, steep, paved path down to the flower garden, We did not try any of the trails. 

                        

 

Accessible parking spaces are in the rear of the mansion. We didn't know that and parked in the front which was fine. I don't know if parking in the rear is better. Mansion  43.06025, -75.6044