River Fox Train — Attraction in Woodland

My partner and I attended the 8:00 AM River Fox Train railbike session with a small group of six people. The overall ride was fun and the scenery along the route was lovely — a mix of farmland, open fields, and stretches along a quiet road. However, there were several aspects that could be improved to make the experience safer and more enjoyable.

While the instructors were friendly, they weren’t as attentive or organized as other railbike tours I’ve been on. There were two instructors, one who rides in the front and leads and the other who rides the last bike and follows. Instructions for operating the bikes weren’t stated clearly or loudly enough, and expectations around safety, signaling, and what to do in an emergency were unclear. For example, when we reached intersections, the lead instructor used an air horn — but no one explained beforehand what it meant. We initially thought it was a warning for an oncoming vehicle, when it was actually a signal to slow down and be cautious. We also weren’t sure how much distance to keep between everyone, how fast we should be going, if we should anticipate any stops, and what to do in case of an emergency. Overall, I didn’t personally feel prepared or ready as a rider and it definitely felt like something I was thrown into with a “go with the flow” kind of style.

The bikes themselves were comfortable and came with a small basket for belongings, though it was placed too far to reach easily while pedaling. The person “driving” or operating the main mechanics like the motorized function and emergency brake is not allowed on their phone, while the passenger is. Helmets are provided which is great for safety. They did also provide complimentary water and snacks, which was a thoughtful touch.

Unfortunately, our trip was cut short about 25 minutes in when the group ahead of us experienced an accident — it appeared a malfunction with one the tires on their railbike happened, causing them to derail. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, and we were able to stop in time using the emergency brake. None of us seemed sure what to do. This reinforced the earlier concerns about safety procedures and preparedness The instructors handled the situation as best they could, however they were unable to fix the tire and thus informed us, based off their supervisor’s recommendation, that we would be unable to finish. I was surprised to learn that in order to go back, they had to physically pick up the rail bikes and flip them around to go back the opposite direction. I have rode some experience before where the track circles around back to the starting point. It seemed labor intensive for sure and took some time to get us back on our way.

Once we returned to the starting point, the staff and owner were extremely apologetic and professional. They offered a full refund and a voucher for a future ride, which we truly appreciated. They also offered spots for the next group but we had plans already for the rest of day already. While it was disappointing not to finish the full route, their customer service was excellent and helped end the experience on a positive note.

Overall, this could be a great activity with a few improvements to communication and safety. We felt like they did all they could to remedy the unfortunate situation, just disappointed we didn’t finish as planned. We might consider returning in the future once operations feel a bit more polished...

We saw a local news story on this and when we looked, the tickets were all sold out. The next year, we got our tickets right when they went on sale and we were excited. Me, my 4 year old, my best friend, her 8 & 15 year olds and our other friend went together, found the place easily, were led onto 2 train cars to stand and wait for about 15 minutes to walk to our seats. We were amongst the first people to board, so we were assigned the first table on our car. That meant that we couldn’t hear a word said by our elf, and we were served last, though sitting right next to the “kitchen” or storage closet. We bought a couple “appetizer trays” for about $10 each. (A smaller version of those lunchables, but with only about 3 crackers with cheese and pepperoni , no candy or capri sun.) Also, 2 drinks, a bag of candy and a couple bags of chips. Our bill was about $60, and we didn’t know how the tipping worked or was split, so that was another $40 on top. We are the kind of people that can make our own fun, so despite not hearing what they were saying, or knowing what was going on, we enjoyed making our little paper bag reindeer, and doing our own thing. The biggest issue we had, and it definitely made sure we would discourage anyone from buying tickets for this ride was santa. My son and my youngest godson were really excited to interact with santa. When he and mrs clause walked up to our table, you could feel the excitement vibrating off of them. So santa waved to the group, said something to my older godson, took a picture with him, which was funny and cute, but then he walked off. The younger two were understandably distraught, so I asked our server’s trainer if santa came back around, and she said yes, the train hasn’t even turned around yet and he’s nearly gone all the way through, so he’s definitely going to come back down to do more pictures and everything. She also said that after we stop, he sometimes will sit down at and talk to kids on their way out too. Relieved and excited again, my son sat and stared at that door a good portion of the rest of the ride, but santa never came back through and wasn’t sitting, talking to kids on their way off the train. I could have handled the huge waste of money the tickets and snacks were, and the fact that we were basically sitting on a train you can feel move, but can’t see anything outside, at a table with a server on his first training shift, so he had no clue what he was doing, left to “do our own thing”, as the elf described it, seeing as we couldn’t hear her, but on top of all that, santa was an awful disappointment that hurt the feelings of two little boys, and I would have loved to kick him in the chestnuts then roast them over an open fire. Of course I wouldn’t, but it was an image that made me feel...

We were a group of four tea enthusiasts who booked a Sunday Afternoon Tea on the River Fox Train for $100 per person. We dressed to the Nines with hats, expecting what was pictured in the advertisement. Unfortunately, it was not even close. We were advised to arrive a half hour early, so we did, but ended up waiting another half hour until the train staff were ready for us. Upon entering the train, we were directed through several dilapidated cars to the dining car. Although there were only ten guests in the car, we sat another 30 minutes before being waited on. The server informed us we would be receiving scones first, without tea or water! Although the advertisement said each two guests would receive a tiered setting of food, we were told we had to share one for all four of us! The condiments were not even a teaspoon each of cream and two jams, for the four of us to try to enjoy on four large scones. Half way through, after asking for another tray of the meager condiments and repeatedly asking for water or tea, we gave up trying to choke the scones down. When the server finally asked us which tea we would each like, we learned they were tea bags, not loose leaf. After finally receiving tea and water, we received one plate placed in the tier on the table with three different quarter sandwiches for each of us. They were each on triangle cut white bread that was stale on the outside; the fillings were meager, made of salmon, cucumber with cream cheese, and egg salad. None of the sandwiches were buttered inside to prevent the bread from becoming soggy inside. Lastly, we received three thimble sized desserts each that one of our group thought she had seen for sale at Costco. During the course of the bumpy two hour train ride, the dining car became warmer and warmer and one friend's watch measured the temperature at 82. The staff of three were a motley crew of various blue colored hair, tattoos, piercings and worn out jeans. An additional male worker in a dirty neon work vest and dreadlocks plodded back and forth through the car at least four times. Sadly, this was not an experience we would ever recommend or repeat! Clearly, the River Fox Train team did not do any research into what an afternoon...