I had my first train ride (on a real train) on the Conway Scenic Railroad! We took an hour-long scenic tour between North Conway and Conway. There are longer tours through the Mount Washington Valley and over Crawford Notch, seasonal ones for fall foliage, and Santa’s Holiday Express.
All trains depart from an 1874 train station in North Conway Village. You don’t have to pre-book, but we did because I wanted to make sure we could get seats in an upper dome. Our Conway Valley Excursion was $34 per person (premium class) but there are less expensive tickets in coach and first class.
We reserved the 9:15 a.m. excursion so that we would have most of the day free to explore the area. The railroad asks that you arrive early to pick up your physical ticket at the station and line up.
Train Car
Our train car was the Dorthea Mae. We entered and took the stairs up to the dome. The dome offers passengers elevated and panoramic views because the walls and top are all glass.
The upper dome has three sets of four seats on each side of the aisle. Two seats in each quad are next to the window and two are next to the aisle.
If you have the option, pick a seat on the side of the train opposite the station. This has more landscape views in my opinion. I couldn’t tell on the website, but luckily I picked seats on that side (A-1 and A-3). Even better, somehow, we had the whole dome to ourselves, so we were able to carefully move to the best seats depending on the direction we were headed in!
Helpful hint: The seat numbers are listed on the windows.
Conway Valley Excursion
Then we were underway! The train left the station on the historic railroad. Our surroundings and area history were narrated over the speakers.
The sky was gray with clouds, and we had some raindrops on the windows, but it didn’t take away from the experience.
The train passes by fields and crosses over the Swift River. We also went over a small trestle bridge.
The Run-around
My favorite part was the run-around! Once the train reached Conway, the engine decoupled, passed us on the parallel track, and reattached on the other end of the train to return in the opposite direction. So fun to see the engine up close as it went by.
Ours was engine #252 which was built in 1966. It is nicknamed one of the “yellow birds” along with engine #216 from 1965.
On the way back, I was able to get better views of the mountains in the distance like Mount Washington and Mount Eisenhower.
This Valley Train is recommended for families with small children because it is the shortest route on the Conway Scenic Railroad.
After our morning train trip ended, we started our drive on the Kancamagus Highway/Route 112 which runs from Conway to Lincoln, New Hampshire.
Hello Steph, welcome back. I too had a first train ride years ago. It went through Michigan. It ended in Cadillac with an included picnic lunch then turned to return us to Birmingham . Your trip looks relaxing, the pictures are beautiful. I would love the experience of a dome to view the whole scenic experience.