Walkersville Southern Railroad

I'm unsure why this place has such high reviews. It is a safety hazard and horrid. I took my son on a specialty day (civil war day). They had volunteers, which bless them is aweosme. However they were untrained and popping off older rifles within 5 feet of open windows on the train. My six year son and I had ringing in our ears for at least 30 minutes. It's a SAFETY HAZARD!! Someone will lose their hearing.

Additionally, this is advertised as scenic. The majority of the scenery is highways, parking lots and ditches, accompanied by a dead animal smell.

Finally, the train left 20 minutes late. My party arrived early to obtain good seats. At the last minute, 2 older local retirees (a part of some historical society that they do not tell PAYING CUSTOMERS about) were allowed on right before the train left. They did not ask us, but made some last minute comment about no seats (to each other, they were not polite enough to even ask us) and squeezed their oversized behinds onto our seats. I could have dealt with it had it not been for the overwhelming tobbacco smell. I have allergies and contacts and was uncomfortable the entire ride!! It was DISGUSTING!! WHY are they asking people to pay and claiming online that their is a surplus of tickets only to allow some historical society access without accounting for their presence? Because if their online ticket database was access their was a surplus and they should not have squished into our seat. My son especially should not have been subjected to that health-harming odor. It made the entire ride tortourus. Unless you are a smoker and live within ten minutes or so, don't waste your time here. I have never been so disgusted, which has led me to contact MDs congressman about this. I am a Northern Virginia resident and teacher and have never been so appalled by an attraction in my life. The reviews alone are misleading and entirely inaccurate, which leads me to believe this "historical train society" and the owners are spamming this "attraction" with false advertising. ABYSMAL!! I am spreading the word.