Choo Choo Travels — If it is here, it belongs here.

Choo Choo Travels — the train-only travel guide

Choo Choo Travels is a train-only travel guide. Every hotel, restaurant, railway, museum, and event listed has a genuine, verified railroad connection.

Featured Destinations

  • Sacramento (Sacramento, California, United States) — Where the transcontinental railroad began. Ground was broken here in 1863 for the Central Pacific's eastward push, and Old Sacramento's waterfront now hosts one of the finest railroad museums in the…
  • Williams (Williams, Arizona, United States) — The gateway to the Grand Canyon by rail. Since 1901 trains have carried visitors from this Route 66 town to the canyon's South Rim, a tradition revived in 1989 by the Grand Canyon Railway.
  • Durango (Durango, Colorado, United States) — A town that exists because of the railroad. Founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1880 to serve the San Juan mining district, Durango remains one of America's great living railroad towns, wit…
  • Strasburg & Lancaster County (Strasburg, Pennsylvania, United States) — The densest concentration of railroad heritage in America. Within a few miles of each other sit the oldest continuously operating railroad in the western hemisphere, a world-class state railroad muse…
  • Chattanooga (Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States) — The city immortalized by Glenn Miller's 'Chattanooga Choo Choo.' A major Civil War-era rail junction, today it offers nights in restored Pullman sleepers at the 1909 Terminal Station, heritage steam…
  • Fish Camp & Yosemite (Fish Camp, California, United States) — A Sierra Nevada mountain hamlet four miles south of Yosemite National Park's South Entrance, where the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad runs steam through the pines and a historic mountain lodge…

Featured Places

  • California State Railroad Museum — Widely regarded as one of the finest railroad museums in the world, with 19 meticulously restored locomotives and cars telling the story of the transcontinental railroad from the place where it began.
  • Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad — A 45-mile coal-fired, steam-powered narrow gauge journey along the Animas River gorge between Durango and the mining town of Silverton, on track laid in 1881-1882 by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway.
  • General Palmer Hotel — An 1898 Victorian hotel one block from the Durango depot, named for General William Jackson Palmer, the founder of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway who platted Durango itself.
  • Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania — One of the premier railroad museums in North America, with more than 100 locomotives and cars — including a world-class collection of Pennsylvania Railroad equipment — displayed in a vast rolling sto…
  • Dining Car at the Strasburg Rail Road — The Strasburg Rail Road runs first-class and dining car experiences aboard restored early-20th-century equipment, serving meals while steam hauls you through Amish farm country. Offerings vary by sea…
  • Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel — The 1909 Terminal Station, saved from demolition and reborn as a hotel complex where guests can book nights in restored Pullman sleeper cars beneath the station's landmark dome.
  • Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum — An operating railroad museum running the Missionary Ridge Local through a Civil War-era tunnel, plus longer excursions, behind steam and vintage diesel power from its Grand Junction depot.
  • Grand Canyon Railway — The historic 65-mile rail route from Williams to the Grand Canyon's South Rim, first opened in 1901 and revived in 1989, running restored vintage equipment daily into Grand Canyon National Park.
  • Grand Canyon Railway Hotel — Built beside the Williams depot and designed to echo the original Fray Marcos Hotel of 1908, the railway's own hotel puts guests steps from the morning departure to the South Rim.
  • White Pass & Yukon Route — Built during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898-1900, this narrow gauge line climbs nearly 3,000 feet in 20 miles from Skagway to the White Pass summit, through tunnels, over trestles, and past gorges.
  • Featherbed Railroad Bed & Breakfast — A bed and breakfast on Clear Lake in Nice, California, where each guest room is a genuine restored caboose, individually themed and set among the trees near the lakeshore.
  • Red Caboose Motel — A motel where guests sleep in genuine retired cabooses and rail cars arranged around a farm property in Ronks, overlooking the Strasburg Rail Road's line through the fields.
  • Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad — A narrow gauge steam railroad near Fish Camp running excursions through the Sierra National Forest on the historic Madera Sugar Pine lumber railroad grade, with food offerings and special events thro…
  • Izaak Walton Inn — Built in 1939 to house Great Northern Railway crews at Essex, Montana, on the southern edge of Glacier National Park. The inn overlooks a working BNSF helper station, and guests can also stay in rest…
  • Strasburg Rail Road — Chartered in 1832, the Strasburg Rail Road is the oldest continuously operating railroad in the western hemisphere. Steam locomotives haul wooden coaches 4.5 miles through Lancaster County farmland t…
  • Narrow Gauge Inn — A historic 26-room mountain lodge at 48571 Highway 41 in Fish Camp, four miles from Yosemite's South Entrance near Mariposa Grove. Individually styled cabin-like rooms and suites with private balconi…

Upcoming Events

  • Railfest at the Durango & Silverton — 2026-08-21 to 2026-08-23, Durango, Colorado — The Durango & Silverton's annual celebration of narrow gauge railroading, traditionally held in late summer with visiting equipment and special trains. Dates and program are set by the railroad — con…
  • Day Out With Thomas at Strasburg — 2026-09-11 to 2026-09-20, Strasburg, Pennsylvania — The Strasburg Rail Road's family event featuring Thomas the Tank Engine, held over multiple weekends each year. Dates are set by the railroad — confirm on the official site before traveling.
  • Polar Express Train Ride (Durango) — 2026-11-20 to 2027-01-02, Durango, Colorado — The Durango & Silverton's winter Polar Express season, a holiday tradition aboard the narrow gauge. Exact dates and ticketing are announced by the railroad — confirm on the official site.
  • Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show — 2027-01-30 to 2027-01-31, Eastern States Exposition, West Springfield, Massachusetts — One of the largest railroad hobby shows in North America, filling the Eastern States Exposition with model layouts, vendors, historical societies, and railroadiana.
  • Day Out With Thomas (Southern California Railway Museum) — 2027-04-03 to 2027-04-11, Southern California Railway Museum, Perris, California — The beloved family event comes to the Southern California Railway Museum — ride with Thomas the Tank Engine and enjoy a day of train-themed fun in Perris.
  • South Bay Historical Railroad Society Spring Open House — 2027-04-03 to 2027-04-04, Santa Clara Depot, Santa Clara, California — Spring open house at the historic Santa Clara Depot — operating model layouts, railroad history exhibits, and society members sharing the craft.
  • York Train Fair (TCA Eastern Division) — 2027-04-20 to 2027-04-24, York Expo Center, York, Pennsylvania — A premier multi-day gathering for model train trading and collecting, hosted by the TCA Eastern Division at the York Expo Center.
  • SUPERTRAIN 2027 — 2027-04-24 to 2027-04-25, Olympic Oval, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada — Canada's largest model train show — over 70,000 sq. ft. of displays and operating layouts at the Olympic Oval, University of Calgary.
  • RailFest Model Train Rally — 2027-04-24 to 2027-04-25, Galveston Railroad Museum, Galveston, Texas — Model train rally at the Galveston Railroad Museum featuring large-scale outdoor garden layouts and massive LEGO train setups.
  • National Garden Railway Convention — 2027-05-31 to 2027-06-05, Lebanon, Tennessee — The national gathering for garden railway enthusiasts — layout tours, clinics, and vendors celebrating large-scale outdoor railroading.