SPENCER — The N.C. Transportation Museum will host the Easter Bunny Express for two weekends, April 12-13 and April 18-19.
The museum has added more events to this year’s festivities, including the Iron Peddler’s Antique Tractor Show April 12 and the massive museum Easter Egg Hunt and Steam Engine Caboose Train rides April 19.
The Easter Bunny Express is a family favorite at the museum. Children and their parents receive a visit from the Easter Bunny as they enjoy the museum’s 25-minute narrated train ride. The Easter Bunny has candy, a handshake and a smile for each child as the train makes its way down the tracks.
Following the train ride, families can stop by the museum’s Gift Station for temporary tattoos for the kids to show off to all their friends. Then they can make a stop by the nearby Wagons, Wheels & Wings Exhibit, where kids can make a craft to take home, creating their own Easter bunny.
The Easter Bunny Express is $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and active military and $10 for children 3-12. Children 2 and under always ride free. Tickets include museum admission, the train ride, tattoos and the craft.
April 12, for no additional charge, visitors also can enjoy the Iron Peddler’s Antique Tractor Show. Featured events during the show include a parade of tractors across the museum grounds and the kiddie tractor pull. 
Kids can hop aboard pedal-powered miniature tractors, provided by members of the Iron Peddlers, and race across the museum grounds. Ribbons will be awarded for first, second and third place finishers in each age group. 
On April 19, the annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place at noon for kids 0 to 10 years old. As the clock strikes 12, a train whistle will sound the beginning of the hunt, with colorful Easter Eggs across the museum grounds filled with stickers, candy and toys.
Children will be split into groups by age to make the most of the day’s fun. For each age group, a golden egg will be available with a special prize for the child who finds it. Children should bring their own basket. 
The Lehigh Valley No. 126 Steam Locomotive will also be in attendance on April 19 only, pulling the museum’s caboose train. Visitors can ride in the caboose for an “above the rails” view. 
Five colorful cabooses pulled by a vintage steam locomotive chugging down the tracks promises to be a memorable sight.
With the addition of the caboose train, a special combo ticket will be available April 19. Combo tickets include museum admission, tattoos and crafts in the Gift Station and both the Easter Bunny Express train ride and the Steam Powered Caboose Train. Those special combo tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and active military and $16 for children 3-12. 
Regularly priced Easter Bunny Express tickets, without the steam engine caboose train ride, will also be offered April 19. The Easter Egg Hunt is available to all children who attend, ages 0-10.
The N.C. Transportation Museum, located in historic Spencer Shops, is five minutes off I-85 at Exit 79 in Spencer. The museum is part of the Division of Historic Sites and the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.