western maryland scenic railroad

The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad is worth the time and money for the trip. Make sure that you sit on the station side of the rail car - better view all the way to Frostburg. Great opportunity to ride a steam locomotive and see the scenery and learn a little Western Maryland history.

We took my grandsons on this steam engine train trip. The views of the mountains in Cumberland, MD are just beautiful. The train ends at the town of Frostburg, where there are several gift shop and snack restaurants.

The North Pole Express is a really nice train (in December). Probably as close as you could get to an actual "Polar Express" experience. The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is the price. Great for small children.

What a wonderful experience to ride the WM Scenic Railroad, #734. Beautiful country to view. Excellent plan for a great day out!

For all the men that are still the "little boys" at heart and enjoy the history of our nation...Added attraction is riding the train in the spring; staying at the "Ramada" to view them from your room; in the lounge/ restaurant, or a comfortable chair outside

We've been up for 3 years now to ride to the North Pole and the kids always enjoy it. This year seemed to be better than last - everything moved a bit faster, a little more organized it seemed. The "North Pole" was warmer and brighter, Holiday cookies instead of Grandma's. My only disappointment was, we miss getting our pictures with Santa. The speaker on my car either didn't work or wasn't loud enough to overcome the noise and we missed the announcement to purchase our pictures while on the train. Previously, you could get them in the station. But that's OK - Plenty of other opportunities to get a picture with Santa.

We took a large party (32) on the day trip from Cumberland Maryland to Frostburg. The Western Maryland trip was wonderful and the kids loved being on the train! First of all, the employees at the train depot were very organized and willing to help get such a large party on the train altogether. Second, since we knew in advance that we would be able to bring our own lunches on to the train we put in a lot of effort to bringing disposable sacked lunches with juice fir the children. Third, we decided to do the day trip instead of the evening one because that way there would be a lot to look out the windows at and we incorporated the scenery into some I Spy games for small prizes. At Frostburg we all enjoyed the carriage museum and watching the steam engine turn around, but I will say that Frostburg itself was disappointing. Anyway, on the return trip we sang Christmas carols and snacked on cookies and hot cocoa that we bought in Frostburg. Once back in Cumberland we took more photos with the steam engine and went downstairs to the C&O Canal museum and looked around for awhile. All in all it was a fantastic day and the kids really enjoyed the thrill of the train ride. My advice to parents isbti understand that your trip will be as exciting as you make it and you will have to put effort into ensuring that the train trip is memorable. The Western Maryland Railroad will provide the train... you provide the magic.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say that I do a great deal of photography for the WMSR, and so my opinion might be a little biased. Now that's out of the way. SO, where does one start? The WMSR is a top notch tourist railroad and is a fanastic way to spend a day or even a weekend in Cumberland. They have a little something for everyone from the kids to the adults, and lets face it, even an adult can quickly get enamored by the sight of a working steam locomotive, it reminds us all of our childhoods. Christmas trains with Santa Claus, murder mysteries, dinner trains, and everything in between. They work with professional charter organizers to do photography trips and the like. The station at both ends is great, and Frostburg is a great stop for a quick lunch while the train gets turned around. These guys have lots of big plans, and in a few years will have two very large steam engines in active service. Having the Allegheny Highlands Trail parallel the railroad between Cumberland and Frostburg is also a pretty nice side attraction, you can load your bike on the train and then rid it down hill to Cumberland. It's right in your backyard and it draws people in by the thousands.

DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY ON THIS. AVOID AT ALL COSTMy family had spent 2 months looking forward to this. We arrived at the train station completely dressed for the holiday including matching pajamas for the kids and festive hats for the adults. For many of us this was the first time on a train. My 6 year old nephew was the most excited but by the end of the ride he was completely disappointed and confused. Issue 1 : The staff was not dressed for the holidays like one would expect. After all it is a North pole adventure. Instead they were all mostly wearing black t shirts and jeans. Issue 2: Stringing 2 strands of lights through a train car does not justify decorations. Issue 3: We arrived to a magnificent North Pole located in the middle of an un-decorated and very occupied parking lot filled with magical chevy's and dodges. There were zero exterior decorations on a ratty old train depot that we were ushered into through a small entrance with a taped note on the door pointing us in the direction of Santa. Issue 4: There was literally a 5ft tall prelit christmas tree laying in the corner not even plugged in. Issue 6 : There was no snow or even the slightest hint of decorative snow. I guess global warming has hit the north pole pretty hard. Just down the road they were blowing snow and I know that there is no reason other than being cheap for them not to do the same. Issue 7: This is the best part. They gave our kids black bags stuffed with coal and a pencil that read " Bah Humbug "! Freaking seriously ? Next they proceeded to charge us $12 for pictures. Guess that was not included in the package either? You know what they did include, A tiny little machine processed cup of chalky hot chocolate and some nasty cookies. Needless to say this North Pole adventure is a complete scam. DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY ON THIS. AVOID AT ALL COST. Just a little more info. The train car in front of us stunk of Urine BAD. Just walking through the cars was enough to make you nauseous.

Rode the railroad with friends and family in the Fall. The scenery was beautiful, and we lucked out with premium coach seating (or we would have waited in line a LOOOONG time to board). Word of caution: we had half-price vouchers that made the ride a reasonable price, otherwise, I would have skipped it. The staff on the train was very nice, and running commentary over the loudspeakers gave you and idea of when to look where, and what you were looking at. They also had a dining car with reasonably priced snacks. All the kids that came along with us enjoyed it, but a family member observed that we have all paid substantially less to travel much farther, much faster. This isn't about travel, though, it's about an experience that doesn't really exist much anymore. The stopover in Frostburg is just long enough to browse town with...I like Main Street Books on and the Princess Restaurant, both on Main, but the Princess isn't open Sundays.

The Christmas season Train is awesome. The lights along the tour and hot chocolate and cookies at the switch over on the way back. The Murder Mystery Dinner is fascinating and captures your attention all the way through

I went on this train ride because my husband and son love trains. We purchased the first class tickets so we could pick our seats and sit together on the train. The seats are a little bit nicer than just regular coach seats. This was advertised as a Santa Ride but Santa walked around once and handed out a mini candy cane. That was the extent of the Santa experience. The best part of the train ride is when you get to Frostburg and they put the engine on the Turnaround. It is an amazing and unique experience. My daughter and I braved the many steps and very steep hill to visit Frostburg's Main street. Missed opportunity on their part; all that is up there are some restaurants which only a handful were actually opened and a museum in an old hotel which was entertaining for 15 or so minutes. At least it was free. All in all a fun day to spend with your family.

I purchased tickets for the North Pole train to take my 1 1\2 and 2 1\2 year old on which both love trains. We live 2 1\2 hours away and had a party of 9 rented 2 hotel rooms and drove down. We were to board train @ 5:30 and leave @ 6pm we arrived @ 5:10 to get our tickets and waited outside in 25* weather to board train to insure our party all sit together. We did not eat dinner and were planning on snacks on the train. 6Pm rolled around (time we were to pull out of train station) no train yet finally @ 6:35 they made an announcement that the train was running behind and it would be there no later then 7pm. 7 rolls around no train my children were getting very fussy from waiting so long so @ 7:15 we decided not to wait any longer and request a refund. They said the refund would be processed in the morning. While walking back to our hotel the train finally was on its way at 7:30. We did not have a good experiance at all and all we got back was a refund not even a sorry and we will offer you discounted tickets for next time or anything. Had 2 very disappointment chillden and out over $500.00 for nothing.

worth every penny paid to get the train to take you up to Frostburg. Nice coast back for 18 miles. Fun ride. Will do it again.

I purchased tickets for for this trip as a birthday present. I t was a very enjoyable and fun experience. All the staffers from the people manning the concessions to the train conductor were pleasant and ready to answer any questions. The steam locomotive was great.