The Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History will close at 3 p.m. on March 23, 2013, to prepare for Museum Night.

The inaugural Museum Night: Trains, Planes and Cars, scheduled for 4-7 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, will feature an evening of family- and history-centered activities in addition to providing visitors an up-close look at museum artifacts. The event is sponsored by Atlanta Bonded Warehouse.

During the event, guests will have the rare opportunity to climb aboard the General locomotive made famous during the Civil War’s Great Locomotive Chase. Visitors can also explore the entire museum, see vintage automobiles, participate in interactive games and handle select artifacts – under curatorial supervision – normally off limits to museum attendees.

Additional activities during Museum Night include slot cars, an airplane competition and a railroad camp. The museum will also have an operating model railroad layout and a pair of antique vehicles on display – a 1940 Packard and a 1955 Chevrolet.

Admission for Museum Night is $10 for adult museum members, $15 for adult non-members and $7 for children between the ages of 4 and 12. Museum members can purchase a family pack of tickets (for two adults and up to four children) for $25; the family pack is $35 for non-members.

Museum Night is the first of two new events to be unveiled in 2013. The other – Railroad Rendezvous – is scheduled for July.

For more information, visit southernmuseum.org or follow the museum at facebook.com/southernmuseum.