Adirondack Railroad — Attraction in Town of Webb

This trip has gotten so much worse over the years. The first time we went there were all kinds of games for the kids to play in the station. The pillars were decorated with posters, it was festive, there were elves standing up and cheering, leading songs, really hyping the kids up for a great experience. This was in the station. There were multiple chefs doing the hot chocolate dance and they did a great job. There were Christmas carols and games on the train. It was magical. This was 10 years ago.

Fast forward to this trip. Lobby was bare, nothing festive about it. There were no games. There were no posters. No decorations. There was a bizarre looking “conductor” in the station. It looked like a young girl with glasses who walked around and looked eerie. It was off putting. She never interacted or said a single word. There was a little kid lip syncing in the lobby. It felt more like watching a school play with someone else’s kid.

We paid for first class tickets. Five of them. The train had not been moving 3 minutes when the hot chocolate song came on for a couple of seconds, then went off. We thought it a mistake. It was far too early. Then it popped back on. There were no chefs in site. The teenager in the car couldn’t be troubled to put a chef jacket on. He looked like a theater attendant. We had cups of cocoa put on the table unceremoniously. I was helping one of the kids and noticed the cups. I didn’t know he put the cups down.

The cookie was rock hard and tasteless. We had three kids and not one of them ate more than two bites. We sped off and got to Santa’s village, which was incredibly lame. Only one side gets to see the village. The Santa was ok, very jolly. He was the singular positive thing of the evening. We sped back to the station. No Christmas carols, no games. Nothing. The kid started a “throw the package” relay game that he didn’t explain to the half of the train we were in. We didn’t hear him so we didn’t know what was happening. He started this game as we were pulling into the station. The train stopped before getting the boxes to the back. We pulled into the station 45 minutes early. So we drove three kids four hours round trip for an hour train ride with zero entertainment, and a rock hard tasteless cookie. We could have saved our $350, turned the Polar Express movie on in the car and it would have been substantially more entertaining for the kids and saved money and a lot of grief. Disgusted is too tame of a word. We don’t get a do over for the kids. They got nothing out if this except disappointment. We did not get what was promised. It felt like a bait and switch fraud.

Oh, to add insult to injury, I paid for tickets on 10-11. I was balancing my checking account and found a $359 charge on November 22 from the railroad that I clearly didn’t do. I don’t know how they did it. It wasn’t even the same dollar amount I paid for the tickets. I have to call my bank and deal with a fraudulent charge after disappointing 3 children that didn’t so much as hear one Christmas Carol. Some “Polar Express”. We, and all the people in our car, probably the whole train, deserve refunds. If this is first class I’d hate to see how coach fared. It could not have been any worse. There was zero effort.

If they can’t get it together and provide the experience people pay handsomely for, they shouldn’t do it. I don’t care about their staffing issues. That’s not our problem. They promised something and didn’t deliver. If they didn’t have enough staff to provide a proper experience, they should have sent an email telling all the passengers the train was cancelled. It feels like a bait and switch fraud. It was truly like showing up to a theater, sitting in the audience for an hour with nothing on stage, then going home, but not receiving a refund. Everyone around us in our car was upset. Perhaps they did us a favor by cutting 45 minutes off the trip. It would have prolonged the agony of boredom for all the children. I simply cannot believe there wasn’t so much as one...

The train ride itself is wonderful. The people (many of whom are volunteers) who work on the train are all very nice and respectful. It seems a little odd to me that there needs to be so many volunteers- considering it is $70 pp one would think that they could afford to pay them. There were several issues to mention. First of all, we arrived as requested, 45 mins prior to 11am scheduled departure, and boarding did not begin till after 11am with everyone standing outside along the track waiting. While waiting outside the train, it was clear that these cars needed attention- reminded me of the shabby 65 Chevy which as a teenager I had amateurishly slapped on some Bondo fiberglass to cover the rusted spots. In addition despite the purpose of this trip being a viewing of the fall foilage- the windows are not clean. Second, when we did get to our seats, there were food crumbs all over the table, and napkins. We realized they were short on workers, brushed it all off and hoped that this would be the final issue. Next, we realized how VERY TIGHT the space is between yourself and the stranger who would sit across from you at the table. Seriously, any average size person (or larger) will certainly be bumping both feet and knees with the person across from you. Advise train riders to make sure to become friendly with the person opposite you! This lunch ride is supposed to depart at 11am and arrive at Tupper Lake at 1pm…. By 1230, our table still had not received our lunch while from what we could see- everyone else had not only received their lunch but had actually completed eating it! At this point, we brought it to the attention of a sweet older woman (volunteer… about 80-ish), and she was over the top apologetic and said that the order slips they had taken from us earlier “must have been misplaced,” and she would “see what she could do to find something for us”! Luckily, she returned within 10 minutes with our lunch. Thought we’d need to wolf it down, but turned out there were delays along the trip and we did NOT arrive to Tupper Lake till 130 (half an hour later than scheduled.) Question now arises…. IF we have arrived a half hour LATE, will we depart for return trip on time at 230pm as was scheduled, OR will they instead leave half an hour later (at 300pm) so that we would be able to walk around and explore Tupper Lake for the full 1.5 hours which was scheduled? Surprisingly, there was absolutely NO ANNOUNCEMENT to address this obvious concern. As we exited the train, I asked the fellow at the stairs and he informed me that the train would depart at the original 230 scheduled time- meaning that we would have only an hour at Tupper Lake. That is not ideal considering it is about a half mile walk to get anywhere of interest! We went to the Raquette River Brewery, had one beer and returned to train by 225. A footnote for the town of Tupper lake: it is INCOMPREHENSIBLE that you provide ZERO benches anywhere either AT the train ‘station’ stop nor anywhere along the half mile walking route to their points of interest / eating establishments! Considering that the majority of the train customers are SENIOR CITIZENS (my wife and I included), the reasonable thought would be BENCHES would be provided. Tupper lake is in the sole beneficiary of the fact that their town is THE destination for this train trip!!!! I do have serious spinal stenosis and sciatica, however- I can easily walk a few miles… as long as I can sit down for a minute or 2 every so often. Shame on you Tupper Lake for not considering seniors and other disabled individuals, as you financially benefit more than enough from these many train excursions customers to provide some benches!! Final point- virtually no commentary on any sites passing nor history...

We took the Adirondack Christmas trip from Utica to Old Forge. The staff were extremely nice and personable. However, there didn't seem to be anyone in charge, and that become a problem later. The train was very late departing, which cut into the layover time allotted for the Christmas Village at Old Forge. The pipes were frozen with no running water or flushing toilets, and an insufficient lack of toilet paper even if the train toilets had been working. Some of the staff mentioned in the evening that this was a known issue, one which happened regularly--then they quickly caught themselves remembering they were on the clock and didn't want to reveal any additional details that might be considered 'speaking poorly' of the company no doubt. Not a great sign. Other staff mentioned en route to the location that there was a fear in the morning that the generator car was going to explode when they turned it in, because it made horrible sounds, but this was ignored and the train departed. After the layover, as groups were brought back to the train station we were told not to do anything but go straight inside the (far too small) train station. As it turned out, the generator HAD exploded and caught fire. The local fire department had to put it out, and a decision was made to drain, detach, and leave that particular car there for the time being. This took a very, very long time during which NO one spoke with the group, mentioned what was going on, or explained the legitimate estimates for our return (initially just saying 'a few minutes'). It was at this point that I cannot stress enough how the aforementioned lack of any hierarchy made for a rather laissez faire attitude toward being stranded and confused, left to stand packed like sardines in a tiny gift shop. People were confused, angry, frightened, mainly because of this lack of communication. While we waited, it was revealed (I stepped outside to get away from a few coughing patrons and stood next to the staff while this was discussed) that the people responsible for running the train (engineers and the like) were out of time (union rules) so they didn't have an adequate backup plan for not having the right support staff. Another hallmark of a complete lack of organization and leadership. A few hours late, we were boarded but the return trip was without power, in the freezing temperatures and pitch black (no lights, no heat, no working toilets). The ongoing toilet problem a violation of NY laws, NY RR L § 77-C (2023), and the rest was just... poorly managed to say the least. It was very disappointing to have no communication or honest information from staff, with many of them zipping up when asked a question about conditions on board or known issues, and again, a rather lackadaisical attitude toward the entire combination of disappointments, unsanitary conditions, and an exploding generator. Full refunds were not approved...