Tourist Train Rides | Southern States

The museum's diesel-powered Calera & Shelby takes riders on a 10-mi/16-km spin along former Louisville & Nashville trackage; the narrow-gauge Shelby & Southern provides Southern Alabama's only steam-drawn scenic excursion. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, limited wheelchair access.

A restored depot at a former mainline crossroads is the departure point for this 90-minute excursion through Alabama's Blue Ridge Country. Highlights include a 1926 Boxcab locomotive, restored railway post office car and other exhibits. Limited days of operation. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, limited wheelchair access.

Encircling a Welsh-themed RV resort of the same name, America's only authentic Welsh Victorian 2 ft narrow gauge railway is complemented by a 7.5" gauge garden raiiway. Highlights include family fun park activities and full hook-up RV sites. Trains operate seasonally year-round. Selected features: rail museum, onboard and station cafe snack services, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, gift certificates, online ticketing, wheelchair access.

The A&M hosts daytrippers on roundtrips to historic Van Buren. A second excursion continues from Van Buren to Winslow, clearing high trestles and a mountain tunnel on its awesome Ozark run. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, gift shop, snack bar.

Scenic Ozark Hills excursions and an active rail yard bring Arkansas's railroading heritage to life. A popular dining excursion is also scheduled. Highlights include exhibits of railroad memorabilia and a working roundtable. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, dinner trips, gift shop, snack bar.

Visitors "ride the exhibits" along a 6 mi/10 km preservation stretch of the historic Seaboard Air Line Railway through rural Manatee County. Highlights include locomotives, coaches and cabooses in various stages of restoration.. Trains operate year-round. Selected features: rail museum, onboard snack services, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, picnic area, online ticketing.

The hangars of a former navy air base house the museum's rare and extensive collection of rolling stock and equipment including the Ferdinand Magellan Presidential Rail Car. Standard diesel demonstration runs and children's railway are featured. Highlights include crew-for-a-day and cab ride programs. Trains operate year-round. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters.

Guests sample railroading's Golden Age on this hour-long excursion through Lake County. Early 20c cars are featured. Highlights include picnic lunch train on summer weekends. Trains operate year-round. Selected features: onboard snack services, holiday/event excursions, train charters.

Lively theatrical productions and full course gourmet dinners are offered aboard luxuriously appointed dining cars. Highlights include theme trains for families and children. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop.

A rolling landmark on the Gulf Coast, SGR's day and dinner excursions span the Caloosahatchee River and the Intercoastal Waterway. Highlights include Mystery Theater runs and overnight packages. Trains operate year-round. Selected features: rail museum, dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop.

Tracking the Toccoa River through the Chattahoochee National Forest, the train makes a sightseeing layover at the twin Appalachian villages of McCaysville, Georgia and Copperhill, Tennessee. Highlights include rail/raft and rail/tube packages. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, gift shop, online ticketing, limited wheelchair access.

Traveling through the rural countryside, stops include Georgia Veterans State Park, historic Americus, Habitat for Humanity Global Village and Plains... home of President Jimmy Carter. Highlights include overnight packages. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, online ticketing, wheelchair access.

Open-air coaches offer excellent views of the Civil War Memorial relief carved into the mountain face. The railway is part of a theme park that features rides, entertainment and other attractions. Trains operate year-round (closed Jan/Feb). Selected features: train charters, gift shop, snack bar, online ticketing, wheelchair access.

Within the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, along trackage once dedicated to hauling lumber and coal, trains descend the river gorge to the restored Blue Heron Mining Community. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, gift shop, snack bar, wheelchair access.

Coaches from rail's golden age take passengers on a romantic excursion through the gorges and horse farms of Central Kentucky's Bluegrass Region. Railroadiana exhibits include a rare watchman's shanty and a working telegraph set. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop.

"The Official Railway Museum of the Commonwealth of Kentucky" runs 22-mi/35-km trips through the fields and forests of the historic Rolling Fork River Valley. Highlights include 3 model train layouts and historic rail exhibits. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, limited wheelchair access.

Luncheon and dinner excursions depart historic Bardstown for a two-hour jaunt through the Kentucky heartland. Southern hospitality abounds aboard restored circa 1940s dining cars where fine cuisine and gracious service are standard. Trains operate year-round. Selected features: dinner trips, train charters.

Vintage trainsets cross soaring Fontana Trestle with some continuing to spectacular Nantahala River Gorge. Separate Tuckasegee River excursions pass through historic Cowee Tunnel. Highlights include raft/train and overnight packages. Selected features: dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, online ticketing, limited wheelchair access.

Along a century-old line once used to haul timber and tobacco to Raleigh-Durham, the NHVRR hosts a popular series of excursions. Highlights include a guest engineer program, caboose rentals and a garden railroad. Limited days of operation. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, limited wheelchair access.

An antique diesel pulls heritage coaches around a 57-acre/24-hectare yard containing an extensive multi-modal transportation collection. Highlights include cab and turntable rides and caboose rental. Trains operate year-round. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, gift shop, snack bar, online ticketing, wheelchair access.

Named for the "tweet tweet" of its whistle and pulled by historic steam engine No. 12, the train does a 3-mi/4&189; turn through a wild west theme park. Highlights include rides, shows and a locomotive shop. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, online ticketing, wheelchair access.

The steepest passenger railway in the world, "America's Most Amazing Mile" has thrilled travelers for over a century. The Upper Station observation deck is the mountain's highest overlook. Highlights include a Lookout Mountain Incline Railway/Rock City/Ruby Falls package. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: gift shop, snack bar, limited wheelchair access.

A range of streamliner excursions ease through the Cumberland Mountain Foothills of Middle Tennessee, most running round-trip to historic Watertown or Cookeville. Highlights include dome coach seating. Limited days of operation. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, wheelchair access.

Departing a former Manhattan Project facility, this 12-mi/19-km ride brings passengers face-to-face with the once secret complex where the atomic bomb was developed. Trains operate seasonally. Highlights include caboose rides and open-air car. Selected features: dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, limited wheelchair access.

In under an hour, guests ride through a Civil War tunnel and see a turntable rotate the locomotive for the return trip. A half-day round-trip to Chickamauga, Georgia includes a layover in the historic town. Highlights include birthday parties. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar, limited wheelchair access.

Two-hour steam excursions include a layover at a traditional loggers' camp. Separate half-day sightseer trips transport visitors to the mountaintop site of a former logging outpost... or to the third-highest summit in the Allegheny range. Highlights include overnight accommodations. Selected features: dinner trips, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop.

Several DGV trains explore the Cheat Mountain region. A 40's streamliner heads for High Falls via a remarkable S-curve tunnel... a unique rail bus scales "Cheat" to reach the falls... and a rare gear-driven steamer meanders through the valley below. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: dinner train, gift shop, snack bar.

Excursions follow the South Branch Potomac River past farm and forest and into "The Trough," a narrow and secluded mountain valley where, high above their natural habitat, American bald eagles soar. Highlights include meal service and open-air cars. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, snack bar.