The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was founded in 1961 by “a small group of local residents to save some American history by preserving, restoring, and operating authentic railway equipment from the “Golden Age of Railroading.” There are various railway excursions offered throughout the year that are fun and enjoyable. During the Christmas season, the Museum operates several Holiday themed train rides. One of these, known as the Hiwassee Holiday train follows a route that goes along the Hiwassee River Gorge in Polk County, Tennessee. Parking is very convenient…a gravel lot directly off highway 411 near Delano, Tennessee. Once you are parked, you can walk a short distance to board the train. The volunteers (some of whom are retired railroad hands) are courteous and friendly, and make the trip more enjoyable. Once you reach your assigned car, they help you choose seats for your party. During covid, they are careful to keep the parties socially distanced. The train then leaves Delano and heads up the Hiwassee River Gorge. It takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to complete the round-trip to Reliance, Tennessee and back. The first leg of the trip travels by the Hiwassee-Ocoee State Park and stops just short of the railroad trestle at Reliance. For the second leg of the trip, the train retraces the route back to Delano.
This past week some of my family, including our 4 grandkids, ages 8 months to 7 years booked the Hiwassee Holiday Train ride. We chose the 4:00 Sunday afternoon excursion. There are two ticket options. The basic coach seating is the one we chose. If you want to pay more, there are also 1st class, premium seats available in the dome and observation cars. Let me say up front, that all of the kids loved it and had a great time! The ride featured many activities that kept the grandkids interested. After we were seated, the kids were given pencils and letters to Santa with fill in blanks so that they could personalize each one with what they wanted for Christmas. The conductor came by and punched our boarding passes just like in the movie, Polar Express. This really got the grandkids excited since they had all been watching the movie.
By this time, the train had begun moving down the tracks, and all the kids had their faces pressed against the windows watching the scenery go by. The views of the mountains and river are excellent, never disappointing. One home we passed had folks out on the porch and in the yard who waved at us as we went by. The grandkids waved back and our youngest grandson was shouting “Merry Christmas” to them!
About the time everyone was getting used to the train moving down the tracks, we were all surprised by a loud “ho ho ho” and a visit from Santa Claus! This was totally unexpected as the website had mentioned that Santa wouldn’t be on the train due to Covid restrictions. Thank goodness that rule was changed because the grandkids loved it. Each group had an opportunity to have their pictures taken with Santa and Santa took the time to make sure each group had a special experience. One of Santa’s helpers was carrying his bag so we could give him our letters to Santa that we had filled out earlier.
On the return trip, the volunteers handed out gingerbread cookies and chocolate milk. We sang a Christmas carol and one of the attendants read “The Night Before Christmas” to our train car. Finally, each person received a bell, which prompted all the kids to begin shaking their bells and singing “Jingle Bells”!
During the ride, I had a chance to walk through some of the other train cars to look around. Each car had distinct furnishings from the period when the car was built. The car directly in front of ours, had a concession area where you could buy drinks, snacks and souvenirs. All money goes to maintaining the rail cars and locomotives. There are restrooms in most of the cars also. You can walk around and look at the other cars, or stand between the cars for a few minutes and look outside through the open window. Not only is the train ride fun and festive, but it’s also a chance to take a look back in time…all in all, a very entertaining activity for both young and old.
