USA Tourist Train Rides | Mid-Atlantic

This historic steam railroad meanders through the First State's scenic Red Clay Valley affording passengers fine opportunities for summertime picnic stopovers, fall foliage tours and more. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, wheelchair access.

Amid the Western Hemisphere's oldest and most extensive collection of heritage railroad equipment, museum visitors are treated to excursions along the most historic mile of track in the USA. B&O Railroad Museum is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. Highlights include a restored 1884 roundhouse; and America's oldest train station (located in Ellicott City). Trains operate seasonally; museum open year-round. Selected features: rail museum, station snack services, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, wheelchair access.

Across a truss bridge and through a rugged high country pass, the Mountain Thunder negotiates steep horseshoe curves and a mountain tunnel on its way to the Allegheny mountaintop village of Frostburg. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, online ticketing.

Operations Suspended until October 2009

Departing "turn of the century" Walkersville Station, excursions pass the remnants of 19c railroading that dot its picturesque farm country route. Highlights include open-air and caboose seating. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop.

This rare short line, tucked away between New York and Philly, serves freight customers as well as tourists. Passenger excursions, lasting around an hour, wind over 16 mi/ 25 km of rolling countryside. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift certificates, online ticketing.

Scenic train excursions enhance the carefree atmosphere of the Jersey shore. Tourists choose between two separate excursions: 22 mi/35 km round-trip between Cape May Court House and Cape May City... or 30 mi/48 km round-trip between Richland and Tuckahoe. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, private charters.

Operated by the New York Susquehanna & Western Technical & Historical Society, the Garden State's only regularly scheduled steam train follows a 4.5 mi/7.25 km route through the scenic Delaware River Valley. Highlights include selected runs by "Doodle Bug" diesel car; Susquehanna Mine excursions; Warren County Winery Train. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, online ticketing.

Located in Monmouth County's Allaire State Park, its unique oval layout and numerous restored rail structures give this authentic narrow-gauge railroad a toy-like charm. Highlights include Operation Lifesaver rail safety program for kids. Trains operate year-round (selected days). Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions.

Based in a restored stone terminal, the Whippany Railway Museum preserves New Jersey's railroad history with heritage excursions and exhibits including rolling stock ranging from coal cars to cabooses. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, gift shop, snack bar.

A trio of mountain and lake adventures include a day-long tour from Utica to the historic village of Old Forge (Thendara Station); a short woodland run out of Thendara; and a High Peaks Wilderness Train linking Lakes Placid and Saranac. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, online ticketing, wheelchair access.

Vintage WWII-era diesels are the workhorses that haul passengers and freight along this working line. Steeped in history, the train follows a route largely unchanged since its construction in the 1880s. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, gift shop, snack bar.

This secluded creekside railway makes its 12 mi/19 km round-trip through the heart of the beautiful Catskill Mountains. En route are opportunities for tubing and overnight camping. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, private charters. gift shop, snack bar.

Threading through the mountainous Catskill Forest Preserve, this historic train line chases rolling fields and steep inclines passing farmsteads and hamlets along the way. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar.

With over 100 mi/160 km of track to explore, FGLK excursions crisscross New York's famed Finger Lakes Region passing Amish dairy farms, shady lakeshores and sprawling vineyards along the way. Trains operate year-round. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters.

The TSRR has ceased operation.

Take a spin on an old-time streetcar and enjoy views of the Hudson River along the way. Highlights include historic trolleys, trams, and coaches from Europe and North America. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, gift shop, snack bar, online ticketing.

Nestled amid New York's magnificent Adirondack Range, the UHRR skirts the Hudson River through the scenic Lake George Region. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, gift shop, wheelchair access.

Rolling through the historic coal fields of Western Pennsylvania, the BHR's mid-twentieth-century diesel cars are self-propelled, affording a unique and memorable rail experience to passengers of all ages. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop.

Along with the Monongahela Incline (see below), this 19c funicular gives tourists and residents easy access to Mt. Washington vistas and neighborhoods. Now operated by the Society for the Preservation of The Duquesne Heights, the incline first ran in 1877.

Heritage trolley rides through the ancient tunnel of an original interurban line commemorate Pennsylvania's first electric railway. Based at the Steamtown National Historic Site. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, gift shop.

Service suspended for the 2009 season.

When this 150-year-old shortline isn't ushering visitors along its scenic river route, it's busy hauling steel to the Norfolk Southern mainline. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar.

Guests board vintage coaches at the 1891 Middletown Station for a 75-min round trip through scenic Swatara Creek Valley. Highlights include onboard sing along and historic narrative. Combo tickets (when available) include Indian Echo Caverns tour. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, wheelchair access.

Port Authority operates the historic Monongahela Incline, a circa1870 funicular that climbs over 600ft/180m up the side of Mt. Washington.

Trains set out from New Hope's turreted station for a 1-hr pleasure trip through the historic and picturesque landscape of Bucks County. En route are a picnic grove and SEPTA regional rail connection. Trains operate year-round. Selected features: dinner trains, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, online ticketing.

The "birthplace of the oil industry" is the starting point for OC&TR's excursions through "the valley that changed the world." A one-time boomtown and a historic oil well replica are trip highlights. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, train charters.

Explore a real coal mine and ride a vintage train. Visitors ride refitted mine cars through a part-timbered and rock-walled tunnel and board an old-fashioned narrow-gauge steamer for a scenic mountainside run. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, gift shop, snack bar.

The state's oldest operating trolley museum operates open-air, closed and interurban cars. Utility cars are on display and shops and car barns are open to visitors. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters.

The Scranton yards of the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad are the site of this historic locomotive center operated by the National Parks Service. Highlights include "Pocono Flyer" steam engine excursions, yard rides plus shop and roundhouse tours. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum (open year-round), wheelchair access.

"America's Oldest Shortline Railroad" steams along amid the Amish farmlands of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Highlights include kids' miniature railroad, hand-powered pump car rides and home-style cooking aboard "the only operating wooden dining coach in America." Trains operate year-round (except January; dining coach, seasonally). Selected features: rail museum, dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, gift shop, restaurant, online ticketing, wheelchair access.

In the midst of Northcentral Pennsylvania's mountain wilderness, the TCR's 24-mi/39-km line curls through shady glens and rolling meadows. Highlights include an open observation car. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, wheelchair access.

Tracing its origins to one of the earliest railroads in US, today's WCRR follows an abandoned transit line -- including a segment of the original 19c route -- reviving an important part of America's railroading past. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar.