Jeffrey S.
Yelp
I did not expect to love it this much.
I don't mean anything negative by that--quite the contrary--I'm just not a "train guy" and I thought that this was very much a place for train people. I have a mildly romanticized attitude towards trains, but I couldn't tell you much about them except where the caboose belongs. But something happened when we stopped by here and I was really taken by the whole experience.
We had about a half hour in the afternoon one day that was unexpectedly free, so we thought we'd come scope it out. We were contemplating a visit the next day, but thought it would be good to just see if it was going to be worth it. So we parked and wandered over to the tracks. Immediately it felt like we were stepping back in time, with the old signage, and the rails, and even an old car parked in the lot.
We sat and watched people milling about, and I went in and asked a few questions and saw the gift shop. Everything was clean and well-preserved, but just as we were going to leave, we heard the locomotive leave the shop and head down the tracks to the station where we were. Hearing the bell ringing was pretty great, but then first time that steam engine whistle blew I couldn't hold in my giggle of delight. The steam locomotive made its way to the tracks right in front of us, and I was mesmerized.
That was enough for us to decide to come back the next day to do the tour and to ride the train. We bought our tickets online, and followed the instructions to arrive early the next morning. We toured the offices and other buildings first, then once again saw the locomotive pull up. We boarded, then pulled away, then had our tickets punched by the kind old man in the three-piece suit. We rode out of town, we got held up by good-old-boy robbers, and we rode back. The train ride is really great, but do know you're going to go very slow and it's about the experience, not the speed or distance you cover. We moved in and out from the passenger car to the flat car and I still giggled when they blew the whistle.
I wish we had more time to walk the shop, but we had to break away from the tour and get back to our car and then out on the road.
What an absolutely delightful and wonderful surprise right there in Ely. Part museum, part living and breathing trainyard, but fully unique.