2022 Holiday Trains: ‘Tis the season

2022 Holiday Trains: Taking a train ride this holiday season is just one option out of many seasonal events to choose from each year. Why choose a train ride? Well, if you like trains, you certainly need no other reason. Maybe you’re looking for something new to try, and in this case, a Christmas train ride could be just the right ticket. Trains, in general, evoke a sense of adventure, romance, or nostalgia for the rider. A holiday-themed train is capable of conjuring all that and so much more. The lights, sounds, smells, and story that encompass each ride makes for an amazing experience, especially for a child.

Depending on what you’re looking for this season, there are many different types of holiday trains to choose from. Some where you can meet Santa, visit the “North Pole,” sip hot chocolate or wine in a beautifully decorated vintage passenger car, or, for one magical night, be fully immersed in the classic children’s book, the Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg.

Whatever your choice may be, here’s a list of the 2022 Holiday Trains by location. Some you ride and some you just watch and enjoy!

2022 Holiday Trains by location:

This list in not all inclusive.

ALABAMA

Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum (Calera), hodrrm.org
North Alabama Railroad Museum (Huntsville), www.narm.info

ARIZONA

Grand Canyon (Williams), thetrain.com  (Polar Express)

ARKANSAS

Arkansas & Missouri (Springdale), amrailroad.com

CALIFORNIA

California State Railroad Museum (Sacramento), csrmf.org  (Polar Express)
Irvine Park Railroad (Orange), irvineparkrailroad.com
Napa Valley Wine Train (Napa), winetrain.com
Niles Canyon Railway (Sunol), ncry.org
Pacific Southwest Railway Museum (Campo), www.psrm.org
Railtown 1897 State Park  (Jamestown), railtown1897.org (Polar Express)
Roaring Camp Railroads (Felton), roaringcamp.com
River Fox Train (West Sacramento), riverfoxtrain.com
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (Santa Cruz), beachboardwalk.com/holiday-train-rides/
Sierra Northern Railway (Ventura County), www.sunbursttrain.com/spirit-of-the-holidays
Southern California Railway Museum (Perris), socalrailway.org (Polar Express)
Skunk Train (Willits), skunktrain.com
Western Pacific Railroad Museum (Portola), wplives.org

COLORADO

Colorado Railroad Museum (Golden), coloradorailroadmuseum.org  (Polar Express)
Durango & Silverton (Durango), www.durangotrain.com (Polar Express)
Georgetown Loop (Georgetown), georgetownlooprr.com
Royal Gorge Route (Canon City), royalgorgeroute.com

CONNECTICUT

Essex Steam Train & Riverboat (Essex), essexsteamtrain.com
Railroad Museum of New England (Thomaston), rmne.org
Shore Line Trolley Museum (East Haven), shorelinetrolley.com

DELAWARE

Wilmington & Western (Wilmington), wwrr.com

FLORIDA

Florida Railroad Museum (Parrish), frrm.org
Miami on Brightline (Miami), miamithepolarexpressride.com  (Polar Express)
Seminole Gulf Railway (Fort Myers), semgulf.com

GEORGIA

SAM Shortline Train (Cordele), samshortline.com
Blue Ridge Scenic Railway (Blue Ridge), brscenic.com

IDAHO

ILLINOIS

Fox River Trolley Museum (South Elgin), foxtrolley.org
Illinois Railroad Museum (Union), irm.org (Polar Express in 2023)
Monticello Railway Museum (Monticello), mrym.org

INDIANA

Hesston Steam Museum (Hesston), hesston.org
Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum (North Judson), hoosiervalley.org
French Lick Scenic (French Lick), frenchlickscenicrailway.org (Polar Express)
Whitewater Valley Railroad (Connersville), whitewatervalleyrr.org (Polar Express)

IOWA

Boone & Scenic Valley (Boone), scenic-valleyrr.com
Midwest Central (Mount Pleasant), www.mcrr.org

KANSAS

Abilene & Smoky Valley (Abilene), asvrr.org
Kansas City Southern, kcsouthern.com

KENTUCKY

Big South Fork Scenic Railway (Stearns), bsfsry.com
Bluegrass Scenic Railroad (Versailles), bgrm.org
Kentucky Railway Museum (New Haven), kyrail.org
My Old Kentucky Dinner Train (Bardstown), kydinnertrain.com

LOUISIANA

MAINE

Maine Narrow Guage Railroad (Portland), mainenarrowgauge.org
Seashore Trolley Museum (Kennebunkport), trolleymuseum.org
Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington (Alna), wwfry.org

MARYLAND

Walkersville Southern (Walkersville), wsrr.org
Western Maryland Scenic (Cumberland), wmsr.com (Polar Express)

MASSACHUSETTS

Cape Cod Central (Hyannis), capetrain.com (Polar Express)
Edaville (Carver), edaville.com

MICHIGAN

Coopersville & Marne (Coopersville), mitrain.net
Little River Railroad (Coldwater), littleriverrailroad.com
Steam Railroading Institute (Owosso), michigansteamtrain.com

MINNESOTA

Minnesota Streetcar Museum (Minneapolis), trolleyride.org
North Shore Scenic (Duluth), northshorescenicrailroad.org

MISSISSIPPI

MISSOURI

Branson Scenic (Branson), bransontrain.com (Polar Express)
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern ( Jackson), slimrr.com

MONTANA

Charlie Russell Chew Choo (Lewistown), montanadinnertrain.com

NEVADA

Nevada Northern (Ely), nnry.com
Virginia & Truckee (Virginia City), virginiatruckee.com

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Conway Scenic Railway (North Conway), journeytothenorthpole.org
Hobo Railroad (Lincoln), santatrains.com
Mount Washington Cog Railway (Bretton Woods), thecog.com

NEW JERSEY

Black River & Western (Flemington), newjerseytrain.org
Morristown & Erie (Whippany), whippanyrailwaymuseum.net

NEW YORK

Adirondack Railroad (Utica), adirondackrr.com
Arcade & Attica (Arcade), aarailroad.com
Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley (Milford), lrhs.com
Medina Railroad Museum (Medina), medinarailroadmuseum.org (Polar Express)

NORTH CAROLINA

Great Smoky Mountains (Bryson City), gsmr.com (Polar Express)
New Hope Valley Railway (New Hill), triangletrain.com
North Carolina Transportation Museum (Spencer), nctrans.org

NORTH DAKOTA

OHIO

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic (Akron), cvsr.com
Dennison Railroad Depot Museum (Dennison), dennisondepot.org (Polar Express)
Hocking Valley Scenic (Nelsonville), hvsry.org
Lebanon Mason Monroe  (Lebanon), lebanonrr.com
Orrville Railroad (Orrville), orrvillerailroad.com

OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma Railway Museum (Oklahoma City), oklahomarailwaymuseum.org (Polar Express)

OREGON

Mount Hood (Hood River), www.mthoodrr.com
Oregon Coast Scenic (Garibaldi), oregoncoastscenic.org
Sumpter Valley (Sumpter), sumptervalleyrailroad.org

PENNSYLVANIA

Colebrookdale Railroad (Boyertown), colebrookdalerailroad.com
East Broad Top (Rockhill Furnace), eastbroadtop.com
Everett Railroad (Hollidaysburg), everettrailroad.com
Hew Hope & Ivyland (New Hope), newhoperailroad.com
Lehigh Gorge Scenic (Jim Thorpe), lgsry.com
Middletown & Hummelstown (Middletown), mhrailroad.com
North Central Railway of York (New Freedom), northerncentralrailway.com
Oil Creek & Titusville (Titusville), octrr.org
Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (Washington), pa-trolley.org
Rockhill Trolley Museum (Rockhill Furnace), rockhilltrolley.org
Stourbridge Line (Honesdale), www.thestourbridgeline.net
Strasburg Rail Road (Strasburg), strasburgrailroad.com
Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern (Kempton), kemptontrain.com
West Chester Railroad (West Chester), westchesterrr.net

RHODE ISLAND

Providence & Worcester  (Woonsocket), tourblackstone.com

SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina Railroad Museum  (Winnsboro), scrm.org

SOUTH DAKOTA

Black Hills Central (Hill City), www.1880train.com

TENNESSEE

Tennessee Central Railway Museum (Nashville), tcry.org
Tennessee Valley (Chattanooga), tvrail.com
Three Rivers Rambler (Knoxville), threeriversrambler.com

TEXAS

Austin Steam Train (Cedar Park), austinsteamtrain.org
Grapevine Vintage Railroad (Grapevine), grapevinetexasusa.com
Historic Jefferson Railway (Jefferson), jeffersonrailway.com
Texas State Railroad (Palestine), texasstaterailroad.net
Texas Transportation Museum (San Antonio), txtransportationmuseum.org

UTAH

Heber Valley Railroad (Heber Valley), hebervalleyrr.org

VERMONT

Freight House (Lyndonville), thelyndonfreighthouse.com
Hartford (White River Junction), hartfordvtpolarexpress.com (Polar Express)
Manchester Vermont Lions Club (Manchester), manchesterlionselftrain.com
Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation (Burlington), vtchildrenstrust.org

VIRGINIA

Old Dominion Chapter NRHS (Dillwyn), odcnrhs.org
Virginia Railway Express, vre.org

WASHINGTON

Chehalis-Centralia Railroad (Chehalis), steamtrainride.com
Chelatchie Prairie Railroad (Yacolt), bycx.com
Northern Pacific Railway Museum (Toppenish), www.nprymuseum.org
Northwest Railroad Museum (Snoqualmie), trainmuseum.org
Yakima Valley Trolleys (Yakima), yakimavalleytrolleys.org

WEST VIRGINIA

Durbin & Greenbrier  (Elkins), mtn-rail.com

WISCONSIN

East Troy Electric (East Troy), easttroyrr.org
Mid-Continent Railway Museum (North Freedom), midcontinent.org
National Railroad Museum (Green Bay), nationalrrmuseum.org (Polar Express)
Wisconsin Great Northern (Spooner), spoonertrainride.com

Several states

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train, www.cpr.ca/en/community/holiday-train
(CP Holiday Train Tracker)

Kansas City Southern, kcsouthern.com

CSX Transportation Santa Train, www.csx.com