by Marisol Dayton

Created on: August 24, 2010

In an age when family vacations involve hopping a plane to the nearest theme park, train tours and vacations give families a very different option.  Whether the trip takes several hours, a day, or several days, a train tour exposes children to the magnificent and varied scenery in the United States as well as taking the entire family back in history and to an era when train travel was preferred and luxurious.  A well-planned vacation with train trips promises to be a family vacation not soon forgotten.

-       Along the East Coast 

Tioga Central Railroad in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania has a variety of fun family tours that normally take only a few hours.  One of the most popular is the annual Rail Days held in September.  Rail Days celebrates railroading over the course of three days filled with a variety of activities, excursions and photo opportunities with vintage locomotives and coaches.  Every Friday the Tioga Central also takes a one-hour Ice Cream Express tour. 

The Wilmington & Western Railroad in Delaware uses authentic rolling stock and recreates “real” railroading from the conductor’s “All aboard!” to the clang of the locomotive’s bell.  Most round trip excursions take two hours or less and include a layover for lunch.  The scenery and the authentic experience make the excursions a fun way for families to spend an afternoon together. 

The Cape Cod Central Railroad’s Narrated Scenic Train was named one of the top ten US scenic train routes by USA Today.  The two-hour narrated journey passes through cranberry bogs, natural woodlands, salt marshes and alongside the Cape Cod Canal.  Reservations are not taken on this train, and at times kids ride free. 

The Green Mountain Flyer in Bellows Falls, Vermont offers the “old-fashioned barbecue” train.  Passengers ride restored vintage cars and travel through the Green Mountains and along the Connecticut and Williams Rivers.  The train arrives at Fox Chair Mountain Farm in Chester, Vermont to take part in an old-fashioned lobster bake or barbecue by the river. 

The Great Smoky Railroad has a full schedule of excursions for families.  The Raft ‘N Rail excursion with Wildwater, Ltd. is considered a great family trip by Southern Living.  Guests travel by open air train through the foothills of the Smokies and the Nantahala River Gorge. 

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