The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) will welcome the Holiday Festival of Trains for a two-day celebration, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 12-13 at 113 Harbor Way.

Admission is free for visitors who mention “Trains” at the front kiosk.

“For more than 30 years, local resident and private collector Dave Halbeisen has shared his remarkable model train collection with the Santa Barbara community, transforming the holiday season into a miniature world of locomotives, snowy landscapes, colorful characters, and nostalgia,” organizers said.

Long hosted at the Goleta Valley Library, the Holiday Festival of Trains is moving to the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum this year, where SBMM will provide a new home for this community tradition and help keep the trains running.

“We are delighted to welcome Dave and the Holiday Festival of Trains to the museum,” said Dean Noble, SBMM executive director. “So many local families have wonderful memories of seeing these trains over the years.

“We love the idea of helping continue that tradition while introducing it to new audiences here at the harbor.”

Visitors will enjoy a sampling of Halbeisen’s extensive collection, with multiple trains chugging along the tracks through festive scenes filled with miniature people, buildings, animals, and winter landscapes.

The display includes Lionel Standard and three-rail O-Gauge trains, with pieces spanning eras from prewar Lionel to more modern trains and accessories.

“Part of the magic has always been watching the trains come to life,” SBMM organizers said.

Halbeisen’s collection combines craftsmanship, engineering, history and play, offering longtime train enthusiasts plenty to appreciate while giving younger visitors the chance to experience the wonder of model railroading firsthand, they said.

Its new setting at SBMM offers the connection of railroads and ships that have long been part of the larger story of transportation, commerce, engineering, and the movement of people and goods.

For more, visit sbmm.org.