Runaway Train Concept

The only thing harder than stopping a runaway train is creating one. From games like breaking out of prison or safeguarding secrets of time travel, to problem solving thrills like saving the world – once from a deadly virus and again from global nuclear destruction – since 2014 the game designers here at Escape Experience Chattanooga have been creating some of the most immersive and exciting escape room experiences in the country. And just when we thought we couldn’t outdo ourselves again, we dreamed up a project so big, so immersive, so experiential, it might even be on the level of a simulation.

Runaway Train Transport, our newest attraction scheduled to open in May 2018 and located offsite at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, will take participants on a harrowing, wild ride. Realistic sounds and visuals, accompanied by being on an actual repurposed (stationary) train car, will plunge players into a situation run amok. It is sure to be a classic adventure with a signature Escape Experience Chattanooga/Southside twist. So ask yourself, do you have what it takes to solve your way out of this out-of-control locomotive?

You can’t buy a more “Made In Chattanooga” experience than Runaway Train Transport. Nothing says Chattanooga like the Chattanooga Choo Choo. Known all over the globe, the Chattanooga Choo Choo put Chattanooga on the world map. Okay sure, Coca-Cola Bottling, Krystals, and Little Debbie are well known, but nobody ever wrote a hit song about them! So what else makes this experience so uniquely Chattanooga?

Well, everything! Everything was created here, from the props we pieced together and painted in our little workshop in the Southside, to the fabrication stations we utilized in our community makerspace in the North Shore. Nearly all of the 3D printing we did, the electronic components we tinkered with and soldered, the metal repairs and welding (old trains get rusty and fall apart), and the train window panel covers were fabricated at the Chatt*Lab MakerSpace. Many thanks also to the Genius Nerd members there who helped solve a lot of “how to” problems to make all the fancy electronics work.

The folks over at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (here in Chattanooga) lent us a hand (actually a train!) to capture realistic sounds and video footage from a real moving train car. We captured train footage from four different angles!

Our very own Walt Schaffeld did our graphics and we’re about to cover our train in a big fancy vinyl wrap made by Jed, our favorite sign maker, over at Chattanooga Printing & Design.

We even plan to test the Runaway Train Transport with Chattanooga folks. Actually, we can’t be sure where they will all be from, but there is a good chance that the winners will be from Chattanooga. That’s right, we are holding a contest to give away a chance to test our train. If you would like to be part of our test groups, you will need to enter our contest.

We can’t wait to open! We hope you enjoy playing, as much as we enjoyed creating, the Runaway Train Transport. Thank you, Chattanooga, for helping make this, and all our escape experiences, a great success!