Mid-Continent Railway Museum — Attraction in Town of Freedom

The museum is not bad, but I felt that it could have been a little bit better. The train ride was ok, but it felt short because the train takes you along a spur line, then at each end they switch the engine, back it up and couple it to the caboose to pull you back to the station. I wish they had more track to take you on, and or had a second train to take you back to the station, so there would be less down time waiting for the engine to be recoupled. If they had like a turntable demonstration at one of the ends, that would be interesting to see. They do have a lot of interesting static displays, with all sorts of equipment to see, however a lot of it is in unrestored shape, and kind of looks like it is just deteriorating away. They need more volunteers to help make all of the equipment look it's best, even if it is in not good mechanical shape. They also have a lot of really interesting equipment sitting back by the restoration sheds that would make good small displays when not in use, such as the railway truck or the little motor inspection car they have kind of sitting on a siding. As with anything I suppose, too many things to do and not enough dedicated workers to do it. I would have really liked to see one of their steam engines in use, instead of a diesel engine, because kids and adults really like to see steam trains when you want to go to a train museum. Just the rarety alone would help generate more money for the museum and bring more passingers for...

Just a review for the Santa Express only since I really didn't see one. The helpers offer to take group photos for your party with your phone and that was really refreshing. It was a pretty cool photo moment with the kids in the old car and also with Mr. and Mrs. Santa. I have to say that the Santa and Mrs. Santa were excellent. They were probably the nicest Santa couple. They were super patient with the kids. My kids were too old for the Santa bit. They outgrew Santa by the time the pandemic was over but the little kids in the train loved it. The train ride itself was a bit meh... no scenic views or anything unless you like looking at corn fields after the harvest. The cars were pretty cool although I was disappointed that the engine was not a steam engine. I don't know if they have those things anymore. The engine moves to the front and back of the train depending on the direction. That was pretty cool looking at the engine attach itself and detach to move. The last car when you get on in the station seems like the best since it becomes the first car. I would definitely recommend the Santa Express to anyone and I think it was worth the price of admission. We paid 25 per adult and 13 per kid. I don't give out a lot of 5 star reviews because perfect should be reserved for truly the best of the best but this place is definitely a place I would...

Fun afternoon just not exactly what I was expecting.😬 If I'm being honest, the free snow cone advertised was the main reason we chose this train ride over other options. I'm from Texas born and raised, my wife is in the Army so we move every 3 years. Since leaving Texas and moving to Onalaska Wisconsin 2 yrs ago I've been searching for a "snow cone/shaved ice" treat. So when I saw train ride plus FREE SNOW CONE, I was sold! It was HOT on the train and hot outside so i ran straight to the snow cone booth after our ride. You can imagine how disappointed I was when we finally got our "snow cone" and it was in a paper cup that started falling apart immediately after putting the "snow" in it. It was like putting crushed ice in a rolled-up piece of printer paper when its 95 degrees outside and then pouring liquid on top. The cup had almost completely disintegrated before she had even handed it to me. 😢

The "60min train ride" advertised isn't exactly that. It's more like a 15-minute ride down the track, 15 minutes demonstrating how to turn the train around followed by a 15-minute ride back on the same track. The conductor and attendees were great and ready to answer any questions we had. They were all knowledgeable and eager to share the history. All in all, it was ok. Probably would have enjoyed it more during fall when the temperatures are...