Bulls Gap Rail Road Museum & Yoders Country Store

Monday Feb. 16 , 2026

Dana, Gabe and Mia Koogler

Michael and Tessa Lindsey

I planned with my grandchildren to spend Presidents Day doing some fun activities together.

My eldest granddaughter Tessa age 12 does not care for hiking so we decided we'd avoid that.

I tossed out several other ideas. Finally we hit on the idea of going to Morristown to the good KARM store. We'd then go eat lunch at Cheddars. Once everyone had their tummy full we'd go on to Bulls Gap Railroad Museum. We'd finish up our day with a stop by Yoders Country Market. Gabriel had never been. All the kids were excited about this.

The drive to Morristown was not bad. We pulled up to the new KARM store and were excited to see what treasures we might find. We went in and were shocked to find the store smelled awful for the first time ever. The smell of mothballs was overwhelming. Mia had to pee so I took her to the bathroom. Door was locked so we had to get an associate to unlock it. Once in the restroom the assault on our noses continued. The bathroom smelled like sewage backing up. Poor Mia is a germphobe anyhow so she didn't take it well. We finally got out of there.

We've had good luck with this store in the past, but today wasn't so great. The store was crowded, but worst of all the staff who was stocking shelves was rude. All we got out of them was irritation that we were in there shopping. One woman in particular was hateful. Michael did find two nice pull overs. Expensive brands with tags still on and brand new! Tessa found a couple good t shirts. Gabe found a pair of roller blades. All Mia wanted was to LEAVE! I was in agreement. We paid for the purchases and got out of there. I won't be in a hurry to return.

above and below: Gabe wearing roller blades in the KARM store. I bought them for him.

Below: Gabe rollerblades while his sister and cousins are laughing.

Cheddars for lunch was great. We had a large corner booth with plenty of room. Everyone enjoyed the meal and the service and food was perfect. They were busy, but the staff was exceptionally courteous.

Bulls Gap Railroad Museum was our next stop. We were really looking forward to it.

We found it without any trouble. The little town of Bulls Gap is quaint and historic.

Above and below: the historic York Quillen store. These Quillens were the forebears of my friend John Quillen. I think this was his grandfather or great grandfather.

Below: historic structure in Bulls Gap

Below: the water tank and other railroad structures.

above and below: looking up and down the train tracks through the middle of town

Below: Tessa and Gabe take a look around at the area.

Below: Front of the railroad museum. Mia is ahead of me crossing the tracks. Michael, Gabe and Tessa are on the front porch.

I am going to go easy on the Bulls Gap Railroad Museum, but I will be truthful. We had a decent visit and it was kinda cool. Not because they were welcoming and friendly. The men in there appeared to treat this place as their private playhouse and were backward and a little annoyed at visitors. We seemed to be viewed as interlopers. Very disappointing. I asked one man which of the model trains were donated by Clark Quillen, my friend John's daddy. The guy literally choked on what he was drinking and even after he quit choking he flatly ignored me. He refused to acknowledge me or answer me in any way. This bunch is a real collection of winners. I told John about it and he had the notion that I was asking too many nosey questions thus making these men uncomfortable. Perhaps having sold his Dad's donated train sets which were worth a pretty penny. It was no skin off our backs. I just would hate to be them when the Quillen boys show up to sort things out. We won't be making any return trips here. We have been to model railroad venues where the participants were talented builders, operators, and eager to teach visitors about the railroad and its history. We will give Happy's Trains a try as well as Rockwood Model Railroaders. I am not including any of the links to the railroad museum info here because I cannot advise anyone to visit there. It would be a let down.

Below is a short video of the trains running which is pretty cool.

Last stop of the day was Yoders Country Market which was a couple miles down the road.

We have visited several times before. I don't know what was in the air today, but the mean spirited rudeness that we'd encountered at the Morristown KARM , the Railroad museum also existed among the CUSTOMERS at Yoder's today. The staff was sweet and helpful as always. The customers were rather pissy. I let the kids push the mini shopping carts to help me. I let each one pick a toy and candy or whatever they wanted as a treat. I purchased Kunzler bacon in bulk for me and Crystal. I also picked up cinnamon rolls and dish clothes for Crystal. We gathered up our purchases, paid for them and loaded up to head home. The day was warmed up beautifully and the kids wanted to go to Nanny's house to play outside. That is how we wrapped up our day. All in all we had a good time cause we know how to take the party with us where we go. The rest of those grouch ass people .... well, sorry bout your luck!