Choo Choo Bob’s Train Store

This place is great and a great place to come when it’s cold outside. Our kiddo loves it here and is always asking to come back. He loves to play with all the little trains and tables and likes to just sit back and watch the trains, too.
Great store, clean, well organized and a bonus that the kids get to play with the trains.
Our toddler loves it here.

More of a toy train shop for kids than a model railroad shop for hobbyists. Lots of Lionel stuff, although that’s not my thing. Not the store for me, but clean, brightly lit, and well organized.

This train store exceeded my expectations! From the moment I stepped in the store I was amazed by everything this store had to offer. It’s organized very well and the customer service was great. I will definitely recommend to anyone we loves trains or is interested in starting a collection of trains !!

We had some time to kill, and I had heard such great things about Choo Choo Bob’s, so headed there with my 9-​year-​old. He LOVES pretty much every product at Hub Hobby in Richfield, so I somehow expected this place to have a variety of hobby-​esque supplies. Not so.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a great place for kids under 5 who love trains. I just didn’t realize that it’s geared to such a young audience.

I don’t get cell phone service in the back of Choo Choo Bob’s. Sometimes this means I end up having a nice conversation, other times it means I really wish I would have brought something to read.
I’ve entertained many a toddler for many an hour at this absolute gem of a store. I’m more than happy to donate a dollar or two to the totally optional donation box in the play area, and I have purchased some toys here over the years although my family does not need any more trains. Thankfully my toddler or preschoolers of the moment can be bribed with some stickers… or a trip to Izzy’s.

We have added this place to the Winter rotation of activities. Who cares if we seldom escape without buying a toy to bring home? The store is a blast for the daughter and she loves watching the trains. Worth a visit. We may even be using their event space to plan a birthday there in the future.

This is a very dangerous place if you have a child that loves trains. We could not tear him away for over an hour. Not only is there a vast selection of train merchandise, but there are many train play tables in the back of the store, locations for train birthdays, and even a local train television show filmed on location.

My 3-​year old loves trains, so I can’t believe we didn’t find this place or the show with the same name on Local 45 television sooner. It was a kid have and the adults like the grown up model train sets. Lots of train tables for the kids to play with and they also have birthday parties. Lots of different train sets and some other toys for purchase. Nice to have dedicated parking lot in back off the busy street.

I found out about this place through one of Unilocal’s Weekly Roundups (Thanks Annie D!) and I LOOOOOVE it. If you have little ones and you live in the Twin Cities, I highly recommend checking this place out.
I am always on the search for cheap indoor activities for my little guy, and I can already tell that Choo Choo Bob’s will be one of my go-​to places.
We walked in and discovered electric trains set up in the front of the store. My almost two year old, Jack G. stood still and stared at these trains for about twenty minutes straight. He never stands still and he never does any one thing for twenty (or even 5) minutes so this was a miracle right off the bat. They even have benches set up in front of the trains so I got to sit down and relax while Jack stared at the trains (miracle number two). The person working came over to greet us and gave my son a high-​five. He was super friendly and welcoming. After Jack snapped out of his train-​staring trance we headed to the back of the store to discover a number of play tables covered with wooden trains and tracks and a few other little kiddos to play with.
Although I do plan to come back and buy a train set when Jack gets a little older, I really liked the fact that I felt ZERO pressure to buy anything while we were playing in the store. The staff seemed happy to have us there just hanging out.
After we were done playing with trains, we headed over to Izzy’s (just a couple doors down) for an ice cream treat. It was a pretty fun (and cheap) outing for me and little man.
I see that they have story times and a free Junior Conductor program you can sign up for too, so we will have to check that out next time we go. Yay for Choo Choo Bob’s!

Great place to go if you have a child/​children! There are a few train models at the front of the store. Towards the back of the store, you will find six play tables for the kiddos. The staff is super friendly. Perfect place to go and hang out and play with trains out of the house!

A friend of mine took me & my kids there & let’s just say that I was more than impressed! Wow! Trains, trains, & more trains! There are electric trains that run on an incredible track. My son literally sat there for at least a ½ hr just watching! In the back there are about 6+ different tables set up so the kids can play with the toy trains & tracks. We had a blast there & I would highly recommend it to anyone with children!

I don’t like toy trains much personally. My kids do, and I like places that my kids like and that are nice to my kids. This place is both of the latter in spades. Staff are beyond patient… saint-​like. The set up is such that you can hit the place before or after stopping by Izzys (or at any other time) and just chill, watch some trains, play with some of those wooden sets on tables, and just let the kids have fun. The technique works on us, as a couple of times I’ve purchased something after walking in with no intention of doing so. This place is a gem.

We discovered Choo Choo Bob’s Story Time a few months ago and it’s amazing! We’ve been a few times now and my daughter loves it and I would highly recommend it to any parent with a child under, say, 7. Engineer Paul is great at entertaining and teaching the kids all at the same time.
We also love the area in the back with all the tracks set up for kids to play with trains. It keeps our daughter entertained for the extra 30 mins we need to kill before we can buy some macarons from Sweets Bake Shoppe!
They only do Story Time every first and third Saturday at 10am, I think.

My son absolutely loves this place. He will ask all week long to go to choo choo bobs. They have trains running on tracks up front and play train tables in back for the kids to play with. Many of the children’s items they sell are on the tables so you can see how they work. They also host birthday parties but sell out quickly so book well in advance. They have a good selection of Thomas as well as other brand train items to choose from. Bonus that Izzy’s ice cream is a few door up the block.

If I were a kid again, this would be paradise. Toy trains everywhere. You can even play with the wood ones on the tables in the back. Who am I kidding, I’m a grown adult and this is STILL paradise.
Seriously, it’s a very cool store. They even do kids’ birthday parties and story times w/​music. Phenomenal. (Edit in 2010:) Now they even have a building at the MN State Fair with live shows. (Edit in 2011:) I’ve heard they aren’t at the state fair this year :(
TIP: They also sell two «Choo Choo Bob Show» kid’s DVDs. They’re surprisingly well done and my son and nephews all love them. Check it out.