Party Train Rolls into Feasterville

When the newest owners of purchased the shop back in 2010, they said they always hoped to attract a younger clientele. Two years later, they've opened The Party Train to help them do just that.

opened its doors, just two doors down from the train store, on March 24. The event room can be used for birthday parties, play dates and more.

"I always wanted to do a party place because there is a huge demand," Wolff said. "We didn't have a space [at the train store]."

Then the space two doors down became available, and Wolff and his wife, Paula Molino-Wolff, jumped at the opportunity to expand the train store to include a spot to hold parties.

"It's a very unique idea," Molino-Wolff said. "No one else is doing it."

She said that most children have parties at gymnastics places, Bounce U, or they go bowling or play mini golf.

"This is something different," she said.

Though any age group is welcome to plan a party at the new space, the Party Train's target audience is children between the ages of 3 and 8. The Wolff's recently celebrated their twin sons' eighth birthday at the Party Train.

"Our boys turned eight and all the eight years old loved it," Molino-Wolff said. "I've had adults inquire... someone wants to have a 63-year-old's birthday here."

The whole point of the party place is to cater to people who are interested in trains, no matter their age.

How it all Started

Doug Wolff had been a train enthusiast for years, starting back when he was a child. He stopped in Joe's for a sale, and ended up planning on taking over the business.

"I went in for an after Christmas sale and became aware that the whole business was for sale," he said.

Wolff said that when he purchased the Train Station, the store targetted an older clientelle. It had no Internet presence and seemed to be just a collectible store from the '60s, he explained. Coming from an IT background, it only made sense for Wolff to plan to grow the online audience, and with two young boys, attempt to make it more marketable to a younger audience.

Wolff and his wife are becoming more involved in community events, to help attract a different kind of client, including a younger crowd.

"It's been our mission from the begninning," Molino-Wolff said. "We participated in Yardley's Harvest Day community event. We had a train display, coloring pages and balloons."

They plan on participating in the United Soccer Club's first carnival in Langhorne by having an entertainment booth and as a sponsor. Being involved in the community is something important to the Wolff's, in addition to sharing a love of trains.

For instance, they've teamed up with the Boy Scouts to help them earn a merit badge and held a fundraiser.

"At the end of january we had a charity event. For the last three hours [of a liquidation sale] we had a fill-a-bag for $25. And all that money went to the Boy Scouts," Wolff said.

They ended up donating more than $2,000 to the Boy Scouts of America, and said they hope to do another fundraiser in the future.

A Typical Party

Parents often look for a place where they can hold celebrations, but not be required to do the planning or clean up the mess. The Party Train staff handles almost everything.

"There's demand to have a place and then leave," Wolff said.

At the Party Train, most of the planning is done for the person throwing the party. Even the invitations, which are designed to look like a boarding pass, are included in the cost.

"Parents have to bring cake and the kids, and we supply pizza, the craft and the invitation," Molino-Wolff explained. " We want to make it easy on the parent. And pay one price."

For $250, the Party Train can accomodate up to 15 children. The party package includes the invitations, the facility for the private party, drinks and three pizzas; paper plates, napkins, forks and tableclothes, a craft for the kids to take home, an engineer's hat for the birthday child and a coupon for all guests to receive a mystery percent off at Joe's Train Station. Additionally, two party hostesses will be on hand to oversee the party, serve and clean up.

Parents only need to bring the cake and candles, favors and presents and the guests.

Any celebration held at the Party Train will have a similar structure. Children in small groups will visit different stations and rotate every 15 to 20 minutes so everyone has the same amount of time enjoying the trains.

Stations include a Thomas the Train area, loose wooden trains, a craft and coloring spot, a costume and dress up area and the most popular, 24 foot, electric model train area. There's also a spot to play pin the smoke on the smokestack, a spin off of pin the tail on the donkey.

When the children first arrive, an educational train video narrated by a kid will play. Guests will learn about old fashioned trains until everyone arrives, Wolff explained. Then they'll go through the stations.

Molino-Wolff said they've already received kudos for throwing such an interactive party. One guest told her, "You have a really good party, because we couldnt get [the kids] to stop playing to have cake."

Looking to the Future

To stir up more excitement about the Party Train, the Wolff's plan to hold a few . Parents can pay a small fee to have their child move through the stations and play with trains while they catch a glimpse of how a party would run.

The next Train Playtime will take place on Thursday, April 26, at 5:30 p.m. If you can't catch that one, there will be another in early May.

People interested in setting up a party or a group play date at the Party Train should call 215-322-7250.