Walkersville Southern Railroad — Attraction in Walkersville

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...

Our visit to the Walkersville Southern Railroad was fantastic! The staff were super friendly, interactive, and welcoming—they clearly love what they do. They made the kids feel extra special and added such a fun, personal touch to the day.

Buying tickets at the station was quick and easy, and they even offer a military discount. Parking is plentiful right by the station. While there aren’t traditional bathrooms, there are portable restrooms conveniently across the street.

The station and train cars are very clean and well-kept. We rode in the open-air car, which I highly recommend for little ones. The kids loved waving at cars at crossings, spotting wildlife, and enjoying the fresh air. The ride is a relaxing pace with beautiful views of mountains, rivers, and ponds. Along the way, we saw deer, turtles, and birds, and crossed two bridges—such a fun adventure!

The conductor also walked through the cars, chatting with families and making sure everyone was having a great time. The ride lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes, which was the perfect length for kids.

Overall, this was a wonderful, affordable, and memorable outing. We’ll...

We booked the excursion on Saturday at 2 pm. We booked our tickets online which was $ 15 per person which is not at all bad for a 1 hour 10 minutes train ride. There are some open coaches and some closed ones. There weren’t a lot of people so we got to experience the open coach as well as the regular coach. The open ones are by the engine and smells diesel and the horn is very loud. There is a small museum where there’s not much to see but it was free. The ticket office had a few snacks to sell which was very reasonable. The train began promptly at 2:00 and made its way through the station. I was hoping there would be more rural area and open spaces to see. It was mostly other peoples backyards, lots of backyards 😂. We passed through a few corn fields as well. Not much to see but the experience of riding a train, even though the speed I think was less than 10 mph was worth it. The train goes for around 30-35 minutes and returns the same way back to the train station. Overall a good experience and only an hour drive from where we live. After the train ride, we went over to downtown Federick to the Rails and...