Historic Jefferson Railway

Wonderful tour. Loved the entire experience!! The price was extremely affordable. The train ride was so fun, the narration of the history and landscape was very informative. The stop at Diamond Don's Gator Pit was exciting. Watching the gators be fed was very neat and all the guests loved it. I especially liked the photo op with a real life baby gator. DEF will be coming back again and telling all my friends and family to do the same.

Had a blast. Jefferson is a beautiful place. Been a few times and finally got to do the railway. About a 45 minute ride with a stop to feed alligators. Other than the humidity and my beautiful wife getting stung by a yellow jacket, it was great. We will be back to Jefferson many more times.

I liked the train and the tour but my only complaint is the train needs some maintenance. Lots of loud screeching from the train which made if extremely difficult to hear the narrator during the ride. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I could hear the narrator better.

This place is such a gem!!! If you visit Jefferson, this is an absolute MUST! In a time period where customer service seems to be a total lost cause, these amazing folks are a reminder of the great, go above & beyond type of customer service we all want! I really & truly cannot say enough good things about this place but they truly made my son's day & that means the absolute world to me. The train ride is really neat & they stop halfway through to feed the alligators! It is truly a one of a kind experience! Also, we are SO excited to do the Fright Train this October 🎃🎃🎃

We had a blast. We went to a Civil War reinactment. It was definitely worth the trip. The tickets are also inexpensive. If you love antiques like I do, the entire town of Jefferson seems to be full of antique shops.

Excellent experience and fun! About $25 for 2 people, roughly $12/ea- extremely affordable and we got to watch the gators feed on chicken legs. It was great. If you want to hear more on the history, i recommend sitting in the back. We sat in the middle and because it was so loud being on the tracks we had a hard time hearing the guide.

Fun ride. They had a person telling some of the history of the Jefferson area as you road the train. It was a pretty cool day so the alligators were a bit sluggish, but we did see 3 come up to eat. It was well worth the $12/person.

What a great place. We are here for Mardi gras. It was amazing. A little cold but fun. Plan to go back in the spring when its warmer.

July 4 was a day for Veteran families. I guess if you're not the color or the "kind" of Veteran they approve of, they'll continuously shoot derogatory remarks in hopes to provoke and antagonize you. Disgusting. Nice try though.

It's not as scary as seems, the back of the train has a trailer attached where a lot of people sit in the back they don't get as much attention as the people in the front and there's maybe one or two pop ups, everything was just decorations outdated themes with no real scares waisted 48$ on a group to bring and show a good time we did not was hoping for more and everything they say will happen is not promised mainly just a story time in the woods. Sadly disappointed looked forward to it .

Kinda cheesy, but the Christmas lights are great for the little kids. Also, this is an easy way to check "riding a real locomotive" off of your bucket list.

How much fun! My wife were staying in the area on our annual anniversary trip. We had read that on Saturday evenings the Historic Jefferson Railway had a "ghost train" that travels through the "Boggy Creek area of Jefferson. Big Foot, or the Boggy Creek Monster, along with the Gator Ghosts, have been sighted in the area. Fortunately we arrived safely back at the depot after a nice 30 minute trip through the woods. We had a lot of fun on the "ghost train" and it is suitable for all ages.

The depot: The workers were very friendly. And this depot was decorated cute with lots of Christmas things outside. It gave it a classier feel upon arrival because it was nicely done up for the Christmas season. It was small and crowed before boarding the train but that was expected. The restroom were tiny, no place to change a child's diaper or pull up and shower curtains for doors. I had no idea before the train ride that shower curtains would end up being the theme for decorations. The train: this train was neat at best. First class was where we purchased tickets and it was completely cramped and little air circulation. We had 4 adults and 3 kids that sat in our lap. I would recommend the coach open air if the weather is 60+ degrees. It was 60 degrees for us and we all wished we'd of gotten in coach because it wasn't too cold like we had thought it may be because it was 60 degrees. The "Christmas Express" train tours are at the warmest time of day and the open air cars are much more roomy and all sets face forward, unlike first class, where some face backward, causing you to have to turn your head/neck to view the vignettes the entire ride. Pain in the neck. My 3 year old twin boys enjoyed the train simply because it was a train ride, my 5 year old girl didn't have interest in the vignettes at all. She just wanted to see them feed the alligators, which DID NOT HAPPEN. And all 3 kids were bored before it was over. The entire train ride may have lasted 30-40 minutes. The Tour: It was themed "Christmas around the World". I can't imagine why. It was more like a tour around someone's personal property, that really liked garage sale shopping. This tour was narrated nicely but seemed like a practical joke because the vignettes were so poorly done. As the vignettes were nothing more than tarps and shower curtains hung with some seasonal props along side. The props looked cheaply done. Had the tour been at night, this would have been much more appealing, however in broad daylight looked like some really pour thought out joke. You literally are riding a train through the woods with vignettes as shower curtains along side the train. I was in shock and awe in a way that I couldn't believe I paid money for this. If the Clampetts made a train tour, this would be it. I would have preferred an historical narrative of Jefferson, TX for a day train ride leaving out the vignettes. And a night train ride with Christmas lights and the vignettes with lightning would have completely changed my review for the "Christmas Express". The vignettes wouldn't have been so awkward looking at night with appropriate lighting. And even with ALL that being said I gave it 2 stars because of the train. And it is a neat thing to do but DO NOT have any expectations of the magical Christmas feel. It was more comical like the "Christmas depressed".

Very disappointed in the ride. We couldn't hear the story because of the sequel of the axles and the decorations were very outdated. They crammed us on like sardines to get as many of us on as possible. Not impressed

My daughter enjoyed it but it was very outdated and the decorations in the trees were pitiful. I was disappointed that we paid 15$ a person for this. Shower curtains with pictures in the woods. Literally.

We were hesitant to come here based on the reviews we read but instead decided to stop by this amazing little town on our way home from vacation. We have a little one that LOVES trains so straight away we were attracted to this site. The railroad trip is about 40 minutes long. We were given a history lesson about Jefferson along the way which we learned a bunch about the founding of the town. There was a stop along the way where we were able to watch alligators being fed. All in all it was a great experience. At times it was a little boring but if you enjoy the outdoors and learning history then this is a good place to go! My kids enjoyed it a bunch as well

We drove over an hour and paid for a steam train ride. It was the reason we came today. We have done rides on the regular train before and stopped riding it when we came just because we have been there done that. We showed up today for the steam train and locomotive chase with the cannons all loaded up on the cart in the front of the train. We got here and saw it all set up that way and bought tickets for a later ride. We get back to our ride and as we load we see it's the regular train. No cannons, no steam engine. Our ride lasted thirty minutes. Other rides were taking close to an hour to come all the way back. We road out, watched the battle (apparently five times as long as the other rides) and ride backwards back to the station all in 30 minutes. When we asked, we were told the train derailed (turns out it does it every year so they should know it's a problem) and that since we spent longer at the battle that they were doing nothing about it. No refund. No come back for a different ride once we get the steam locomotive on the track. Not even a reduction to the normal train ride rate. And not even a warning before we boarded that we weren't getting what we paid for. Big disappointment. They did not want to help or please anyone at all. They were making excuses as soon as people disembarked and were obviously disappointed. It was like driving to steak night at a restaurant and paying for a steak. Then the waiter brings you out a salad and says they are out of steak (actually, he doesn't say anything, he just walks off and makes you come find him to ask). Then when you speak to the manager he tells you that he gave you extra dressing on your salad to make up for no steak so you should be happy and no they aren't reducing it to salad prices on account if the extra dressing.

This was the poorest excuse for an event that I have ever seen. This was not worth the exorbitant price. Sheets hung in the woods, lame lights barely strung in trees, horrible furniture set there and there...it was a nightmare. The website is very deceiving. They should be ashamed. I want my kid's money refunded. It was horrible. The singer was horrible, too and could not play the guitar or sing on key. This was shameful. Do not waste your money. It was the worst thing we have ever had to endure. Don't do it.