Steam Railroading Institute

This could be SO much better. There was generally such a lack of attention to detail. The adult car tickets are so expensive we were expecting a lot more. For example, when we boarded the train we were really expecting to be greeted by the conductor with some enthusiasm and joy reminiscent of the film the train markets itself to be imitating. We were not. Very ho-hum. Also, the step stool up and down off of the train is treacherous, there were employees standing there but they could have at least offered a hand to those stepping down or up. Once on the train the table seating was really uncomfortable, plus it would have been nice to have been served hot chocolate in an actual mug and not styrofoam cups. If they had provided our complimentary mugs at the beginning instead of at the return trip we could have used those to drink from instead of drinking out of nasty little partially-filled styrofoam cups. Also, it would have been nice if someone was walking up and down the aisle once or twice with a thermos to offer hot chocolate refills, marshmallows and whipped cream. Once at the town it was clear by our first stop at the fire station lunch that the town was going to be sadly disappointing. The food (the chicken and dumpling soup) was marginal at best. Many of the shops listed were actually just a table in a room with other 'shop' tables. The wide, barren concrete street itself had no holiday presence at all, construction barriers blocked the road instead of putting a little thought in to it and placing, for example, a few Christmas trees in planters or something. My husband and I took the horse drawn carriage ride and the two drivers barely even said hello much less introduce us to the horses who pulled the carriage, or even just greeting us with an enthusiastic Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays would have been a friendly gesture. Come on, a nice person could be on the carriage ride to sing a Christmas carol or something. The two drivers silently took us around a pretty sad town block with abandoned, boarded up homes and one house even had a huge tree crushing part of it that clearly had been there for years. Definitely not close to the beauty and grace of some other holiday events we have been to in SE Michigan.