Find Your Perfect Train Ride in Michigan Today

The narrow gauge Michigan scenic train ride on the Huckleberry Railroad is also part of a historical village. The Coopersville & Marne Railway operates 14-mile scenic diesel rail excursions. The Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso operates seasonal North Pole Express train rides in Michigan behind the famous Pere Marquette 2-8-4 Berkshire No 1225, the same one that was used for the creation of the popular animated 2007 Christmas movie featuring Tom Hanks, The Polar Express. You can catch The Old Road Dinner Train at either Blissfield or Charlotte. The Little River Railroad operates a 30 minute scenic train excursion be hind the smallest Pacific class steam locomotive of its type ever built.

Did you know?

There are over 40 steam locomotives located in Michigan. The Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum displays, one of only 2 out of the original 68 Allegheny type locomotives that were ever built, the C & O 2-6-6-6 #1601, that was retired in 1956. The museum also operates the Greenfield Village Railroad 4-4-0, “Edison” No. 1. Steam locomotive No.464, one of the last two surviving Denver and Rio Grande K-27 engines, steams up over on the Huckleberry Railroad. Pere Marquette Berkshire 2-8-4 No. 1223 is on display at a Grand Haven city park.
The first railroad in Michigan was the Erie & Kalamazoo and was completed in 1837. Part of the original route is used today by the Old Road Dinner Train. Michigan’s 3600 miles of track provide interstate service for the NS and CSX railroads between Ohio and Indiana.

Blissfield

Adrian & Blissfield Railroad

The Old Road Dinner Train offers a Murder Mystery Dinner Train running about 3 hours and includes a 5 course dinner while being entertained by a cast of actors performing a comical interactive murder mystery. Saturday afternoon family train rides run 1 1/2 hours in duration. Coaches are vintage passenger cars dating from 1937 & 1949. They are fully heated and air conditioned.

Bridgeport

Junction Valley Railroad

Junstion Valley Railroad is home to the largest quarter size railroad in the world. A fully stocked railroad hobby shop that is open year round.

Charlotte

Adrian & Blissfield Railroad

The Old Road Dinner Train’s Murder Mystery Train ride comes with a 5 course meals and actors that perform a comical interactive murder mystery. Train excursions run about 2 to 2 1/2 hours on selected Saturdays and Fridays.

Clinton

Southern Michigan Railroad

The Southern Michigan Railroad operates scenic train rides aboard antique equipment during spring and summer months over the remaining tracks of the early Palmyra and Jacksonburgh Railroad.

Coldwater

Little River Railroad

The Little River Railroad is home to one of the smallest Pacific-type locomotives ever built for a standard-gauge railroad. Baldwin built it in 1911 for the original Little River Railroad in Townsend, TN, where it hauled logs. After being abandoned in the 1960’s, #110 was restored in 1972 and in 1975 made its first run for the current Little River Railroad. Round trip scenic train rides depart from Coldwater, MI and go to Quincy, MI. Train rides last approximately 1 ½ hours. Museum is located at the 1883 Lake Shore and Michigan Southern depot. Seasonal themed train rides include, but are not limited to, the Easter Bunny Express, the Halloween Train and a Holiday Express. Directions.

Coopersville

Coopersville & Marne Railway

Themed train rides aboard the Coopersville & Marne Railway include a Bunny Train, the Great Train Robbery, a Pumpkin Train and a Santa Train. Caboose and locomotive rides also available. The train consists of antique passengers cars, which date from the early part of the last century, travel out into the countryside and through family owned farmlands. The 14 mile rail excursions cross over an open deck girder bridge, four creeks and one road bridge before you arrive at the Village of Marne.Directions.

Dearborn

Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum

Narrated 30 minute steam train ride around the Greenfield Village on the Weiser Railroad at the Henry Ford Museum departs from the 1859 Smiths Creek depot. Museum includes one of only two remaining Allegheny types, C&O’s 2-6-6-6 locomotive #1601. Built in 1941 and weighing in at 600 tons, this was one of the largest steam-powered locomotives ever built. Designed for pulling huge coal trains over the Allegheny mountains of West Virginia, this locomotive could reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. Also, a reconstructed 19th century roundhouse. Amtrak service also stops at the museum.

Fairview

Michigan AuSable Valley Railroad

The Michigan AuSable Valley Railroad features a 1/4 scale passenger train ride through the beautiful scenic landscape of Northern Michigan. Operates on weekends and holidays during the summer months. The railroad operates an oil-fired steam engine, No. 5661, 4-6-4, on selected Sundays and Holidays.

Flint

Huckleberry Railroad

The Huckleberry Railroad owns 7 locomotives, the #2 and #464 are the primary locomotives that serve the railroad. The Huckleberry Railroad #2, formally known as #152, is a 4-6-0 built in June of 1920 by Baldwin Locomotive Works. Built in 1903 for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, 2-8-2 #464 operates an 11 car passenger train over the Huckleberry Railroad. The forty minute scenic train rides travel through the scenic Genesee Recreation Area. Excursions run May through September.

Lake Linden

Houghton County Historical Museum

Historic Lake Linden Mineral Range Depot with a large operating HO scale model railroad depicting the Copper Range Railroad in the 1920s. Museum displays the largest collection of Copper Country railroad artifacts in the area. The Lake Linden and Torch Lake Railroad operates its 0-4-0 Porter No. 3 steam engine each Sunday from Noon to 4 pm. The museum’s gas/hydraulic Plymouth engine operates on Saturdays between 10 am. to 4 pm. as well as weekdays when needed.

Owosso

Steam Railroading Institute

The Steam Railroading Institute offers weekend scenic train rides throughout the summer and several all-day train rides through out the year. The Pere Marquette Railway #1225 takes visitors on the North Pole Express train ride in December. This is the same engine that was used as a model for the movie The Polar Express. Seven acre site includes a roundhouse and turntable. Visitors center includes exhibits, a model train layout, and the museum’s collection of archival materials and artifacts.

Royal Oak

Bluewater Michigan Chapter NRHS

Bluewater Michigan Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society owns, preserves and operates several historic rail passenger coaches for use on passenger excursion trains.

Soo Junction

Tahquamenon Falls Wilderness Excursion

The Toonerville Trolley is an authentic 24″ narrow gauge railroad, making a 5 1/2 mile round trip through the natural Michigan wilderness.

St Johns

Clinton Northern Railway Center

The Clinton Norther Railway Center exhibits include four railcars from early 1900s and a large HO layout.

Walled Lake

Michigan Star Clipper Dinner Train

Michigan’s Star Clipper Dinner Train made its last Walled Lake departure on Dec. 31, 2008 from Waterford, Mich. The train formally operated over the ex-Grand Trunk route between West Bloomfield and Wixom, Mich.
As for the Clipper’s new home, the train now operates as the Columbia Star Dinner Train out of Columbia, MO.