IT'S TOTALLY TRUE... that trains and Christmastime are a tried-and-true twosome. After all, decked-out dens, the kind of homey rooms absolutely blanketed in blinking bulbs and a towering fir, also very often sport a miniature train and oval track. Even if your own Christmas tree does not have a small train ringing it, near its base, you're sure to come across numerous whimsical train sets in the shops as December draws near. But there are other holidays that are also running a ring around trains and train love, from Easter excursions, where a certain bunny makes a cameo aboard a real-life train, to the spookier train outings of October. Finding a vintage engine, though, and the requisite cars to ride in, can require a bit of looking around, unless, of course, you look directly to Jamestown, in Gold Country, where...
RAILTOWN 1897... holds nostalgic sway, weekend after weekend, through many a special occasion. And the special occasion ahead of Halloween 2018 involves the festive running of the Harvest Haunt Express, which is choo-choo-ing on Saturdays and Sundays into late October. There's nothing to skin-prickly or fear-stoking about this fun ride — it's a family kind of thing — but there are cute Halloween decorations and theme weekends, as well as opportunities for visitors to dress up. Pirates & Princesses Weekend takes to the rails on Oct. 20 and 21, while Wizards & Witches rounds it all out, magically, on the weekend just ahead of Halloween.
NEED TO CHOO-CHOO... in the direction of tickets? Do so now, all while considering that trains and train-fun to-dos are popping up regularly alongside other holidays, and not just Christmas. Will it be long before toy trains are running rings around jack o'lanterns, all to celebrate All Hallows Eve? Stay tuned.
