Blue Ridge Scenic Railway — Attraction in Blue Ridge

*Updating to 5 stars because I was informed the railway is completely separate from the rail bikes but leaving my review of the rail bikes.

*Update- After some back and forth with Judy, a different person contacted me and offered me a FULL refund and a gas card to cover my expenses. So, I only lost time. They also offered to cover our ride if we come back. I'm not sure if we will or not (I'm still bitter about how we were initially treated). I'll update if we do.

Freedom Rail Bikes called less than 3hrs before our ride time & said we needed to be 40 minutes early. I explained that we were 2hrs away and had planned to be there 15min early, as the website indicated when we booked several days ago. She took note of my name & said that would be fine. We got there at the time we said we would & were told we wouldn’t be able to to ride a rail bike because we were the last ones to sign in & one was broken. She said to fill out the waiver anyway & we could ride if someone didn’t show. As we were filling out our waiver, another group showed up that hadn’t signed in yet. Yay! I thought we would for sure be able to ride. Instead, she let them on the rail bikes ahead of us & told us we could either take a full refund and ride nothing or ride on the speeder, a motorized cart that pulls the bikes for half of a refund. We had driven 2hrs just for the rail bikes. I asked if they had a 4pm slot we could do instead. She said no, that they had cancelled that one due to the owners being in town. I let her know I wasn’t happy with it & we reluctantly got in the speeder. Once we were on, we were then told I’d be going backwards the whole trip. What was suppose to be a peaceful ride through nature and the highlight of my daughter’s spring break, turned into a noisy exhaust filled ride pulling the other bikers. She should’ve given us a FULL refund and offered a free ride another time to make up for the experience. She knew I was driving two hours and didn’t bother to even call. She didn’t ask if there were any locals that might be willing to come back the next day. It was ride the loud stinky speeder, which broke down halfway through requiring us to wait for someone to repair it, or ride nothing. I suggest anyone that isn’t local not to travel there for the experience. We were informed that their carts jump track often, which is what broke the one that was down that day. The owner was there and didn’t offer to make it...

My husband and I went for the first time 12/16/24. We had fun, however it wasn’t what we really imagined. First off there really was no free parking in downtown Blueridge. It coat $21.50 to park and it has to be done online or with the kiosk. It’s hard to see anything from the train from either side unless you stand up to look. The seats sit down pretty low.. You see the Oconee River and they do tell a little history of a couple of things. There are a lot of tree to be seen! . On the return trip you switch sides to see things. There were no Christmas lights in the area. The inside of the train cars are very old and the seating is pretty worn. There were a few Christmas decorations scattered around the car but they had no Christmas music playing or anything else Holidayish. Inside the premiere car on the trip there we received a charcuterie box lunch that was good and we were also offered soft drinks and water. We also received a little commemorative canvas bag and ticket check in. In the return trip we received a pin with BRSR logo and a cookie and a candy cane with additional drinks offered. .we also received a free souvenir photo of us on the train. Our car attendant was an older lady who was very very sweet and attentive. The town we visited is VERY small and there really isn’t anything other than a few restaurants and small shops. When you cross the bridge there is an indoor “plaza” with a few shops and all of It was Christmas themed. It was pretty. I guess I thought that if this is the stop for the train that during the holiday season the town would be decorated and a little more welcoming. The “tourism” from this train is what keeps the town afloat I’m sure. I’m glad we went but I wouldn’t want to go again and I probably would not highly recommend to anyone especially with smaller kids. The open air seating in appropriate weather would have probably been more “fun” and would definitely be...

My family of 4 set out for a new, fun experience on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway to celebrate our little one’s birthday and our 10 year anniversary this past week after several of our friends from lower Alabama had recommended it. The staff starting at the pre-ordered ticket box, to the information speaker in cart B, to the general manager, Sam (who also works safety and the gift shop while on the train) were all so friendly and helpful from the beginning. Low and behold I would have a medical emergency while on the first brake check stop of the 2 hr ride, their helpfulness and expedited response, along with a helpful ER nurse named Annelise along for the ride as a passenger, got me a quick EMT evaluation, who then got me stabilized and to a hospital. In the meantime of being 30 mins from our vehicles, Sam, the gen mgr, called the police dept to transport my husband and kids back to our vehicle so that they could get to the hospital to meet me who was too busy to transport at the time, then called his wife who quickly arrived, picked up and transported my family back to downtown Blue Ridge. She then refused to take any repayment for her courteousness. Back up to my family waiting outside the ambulance for a ride, another good citizen arrived and asked my husband if they needed transport assistance. Furthermore Sam, immediately refunded our tickets without our request which was so truly appreciated aside from every other way he, his staff, and personal family responded to my distressed traveling family. We will forever be grateful to the quick help we received in this super stressful situation being 6.5 hours from help or family while traveling and was supposed to have an enjoyable experience. At least we have good memories of the first part of the ride, the help we received and the niceness and generosity of the people all around us on the...