South Simcoe Railway Heritage Corp — Attraction in New Tecumseth

Today (Sunday, October 20), our party of four adults arrived at 8:55, after over an hour's drive, and waited 20 minutes for the ticket office to open rather than the 9 a.m. posted time. We were told there were 325 tickets for the day, divided over the four different departure times. Rather than having a staff person go down the line (that was already about 80 people at that time) to ask each person how many in their party, tally the numbers and let the others know, there wouldn't be enough seating, we were left waiting in line for 2-1/2 hours to get tickets for the train ride, before being told there weren't any more tickets! It was VERY poorly organized!

There were two ticket windows: with only one person selling tickets to the walk-up line, leaving the other person sitting doing absolutely nothing while they awaited people straggling up right before their departure time for pick-ups of pre-sold tickets. Nobody was managing the line, keeping people from jumping the queue by pretending to be going to ask information or pick up tickets at the advance window and then getting in front of others and buying 10 or more tickets at a time for people who weren't even with them in line!

At the time we were informed no further tickets were available, there were at least 200 people in line!!! People with small children or elderly family members who had been waiting patiently and politely for hours. When we left: there was still no signage put up at the gate to let people know the rides were sold out for the day. Nor had there been an official, uniformed staff person go down the line to inform those waiting that it was sold out. We only found out because one of our party had gone to the head of the line and overheard the ticket agent telling the next family in line that only ONE ticket remained. We and others around us, and some we met on our way out, said they had tried to buy tickets online but were unable to do so. It would be MUCH more efficient to state on the website tickets ONLY available through on-line advance purchase--and then clearly indicate on the website when seating is sold out.

When a member of our party politely mentioned to a staff person that some changes should be made to avoid these issues and so many disappointed and disgruntled visitors, he was bluntly told, "We don't have to make...

I boarded the South Simcoe Railway this Sunday at 10:30 AM to experience the train ride with my family on the oldest operating steam heritage railway in Ontario. My experience was mixed because while most of the volunteers were friendly and helpful, the driver at start of our ride tainted our experience.

I will start with the positive: The conductor on our train ride was attentive, friendly and engaging. He took time to answer my question on local moraine geography. Even when he needed to make our large group (with two young children) aware of safely rules, he showed respect, empathy and humour to convey his message. I also liked learning about local history during his commentary. Such as how Beeton got its name. So why did I deduct a star?

Well because the behaviour of the train driver was upsetting for my family. He was extremely rude and unfriendly when a group member, unaware of restriction on climbing on the steps of the engine compartment, climbed on a step for a photo. Instead of a friendly tone, he used a rude, angry tone. Treating customers insultingly is no way to build long-term relationship with visitors, especially for an organization with the esteemed history of South Simcoe Railway.

As this is a volunteer run organization, I appreciate the hard work that goes into operating the excursion trains. So I generously still gave four-stars. Still I hope my review will motivate the organization to do better with customer service, empathy and respect.

I suggest booking the train in peak Fall because then you will experience vibrant colours on the excursion. Also book in advance since Fall is a busy period. If you've boarded great train routes internationally, then this excursion might be...

Very disappointed with the experience, which unfortunately did not involve getting on the train. I booked two tickets for my husband's birthday at 10:30am on September 15, the morning that ticket sales opened, for the Fall Colours trip on September 27, 2020 at 1:30pm. I received a confirmation e-mail a week later, so it wasn't a spontaneously-generated e-mail, someone had to confirm my order and tickets before sending the e-mail. When we arrived at the station half an hour before hand as requested, after our 1.5-hour trip to get there, we were informed that due to overbooking, we had been bumped to the 3pm ride which they "just created" per the ticket booth employee to accommodate the bumped passengers. That was total malarkey as there was already a 3pm trip on the schedule, so I didn't feel confident that given their inability to count spots for the trip I originally booked, that we would have a seat for the 3pm as tickets were previously sold out online for that trip too. We have dogs at home, and could not leave them for an extra hour and a half longer than we had already planned. I had to call during the week after to request a refund, instead of them trying to contact me to make things right. They could have e-mailed me the morning of the trip so at least we wouldn't have wasted the time and gas. We would have made other plans and NOT had a ruined birthday for my husband. So thanks for that. I will not be trying to go there again. Good luck to you...