Pacific NW Live Steamers, Shady Dell Train park, Molalla train park. — Attraction in Molalla

I took my 2 1/2 year old son here on a Sunday at around 3pm, they close at 4pm and after waiting in line we had time for one ride. It was definitely worth the wait. If you want to ride more than once plan on staying at least a couple hours.

As far as things to do other than riding the train, you can picnic in what I call "the picnic area" which has grass, and a structure with picnic tables in case it's raining.

As far as food goes, they have a snack shop that sells popcorn, soda, chips, and some other snack type items. They only let a certain number of people in the snack shack at any given time so you'll have to wait in line there too.

They have several trains running at any given time and it's first come first served so you if you have a particular train you want to ride you'll have to wait in line again and hopefully you'll get a chance at riding something different.

As far as non-riding activities go, there's not much to do aside from picnic. All the interesting stuff to look at is along the tracks during your ride.

Parking is problematic so plan on walking a block or two away from the entrance unless you get lucky and can snag a spot near the park entrance.

It's great fun and I highly recommend it.

Ps: I spoke to one family that goes there every weekend and the kids never tire of...

We visited this place last summer and loved it. Our (then) 6 and 4-year-old had a blast and were so excited to come back. We were relieved that nothing about it was too loud or too scary for little kids. As soon as we entered the park today we were met with piercing whistles that turned out to be coming from a volunteer “directing traffic.” My five year old started crying. I had barely calmed him when we were hit with blasts from a whistle on one of the trains that hurt my ears too. While sitting and trying to console my son I heard other volunteers complaining amongst themselves how they had to cover their ears when that particular train whistle blew. It’s a train park. I get it. And all volunteer/donation based, which is amazing. But it’s obviously intended for little kids and it wasn’t this way before. Last year there were low pitched “toot-toots” that didn’t scare the kids or hurt our ears. This is a major change from the last time we were here, so I’m bothered we wasted a Sunday driving all the way here. If you have a kid who is afraid of VERY loud noises, or has any sensory issues, do not come here. Saddest of all is I had a little boy who LOVED trains and now cries when he sees one. Please consider going back to...

This place is fantastic. I honestly can't believe it's free. We went for my four-year-old son's birthday and he loved every minute of it. The trains were great, the tracks were great, most of the conductors were fun and chatty, and the overall experience was exactly what we hoped for. My only complaint is that the benches on some of the trains were extremely narrow and really only built for small children, but they were running at least four trains while we were there and most of them had comfier seats than the benches. Everyone there was friendly and helpful, and the line moved quickly. I was really impressed that someone thought to include benches as part of the line, and the majority of the line area was covered and shaded, which was great for a hot day. I thought maybe we could get an hour out of this place, but we were there for over three because it was so much fun. Honestly, I would have happily paid $5 a person for admission, but it really is fantastic that they don't charge anything. We made sure to purchase several things and drop a little cash in the donation box on our way out. My kids have asked several times today when we...