When I read about a scenic train ride out of Palestine Texas I decided I needed to take the kids on a day trip to check it out. The last time we rode a train was in Branson, MO back in 2017. I was pretty excited and the kids were too. My brother and nephew drove out to Tyler to join us.
Tickets should be purchased in advance via the website and I highly recommend purchasing the prepaid lunch.
We started the morning at 9am and drove over to Palestine to park and pick up our tickets. We opted for the open air train car, although there’s air conditioned cars, dining cars and they even have the option of renting the caboose!
We enter thru the concession car and out to the open air car which is equipped with what appears to be park benches. We initially sit in our assigned seat but considering it wasn’t packed we spread out a bit and got comfortable for the hour ride to Rusk.
Every bridge and road crossing the conductor blasts the horn. They have some objects along the way to keep the view interesting.
We arrived in Rusk for our lunch and to stretch our legs. We ordered food in advance, specifically the mac and cheese. With 3 kids I wasn’t sure what they’d want to eat. We went with turkey sandwich, chicken strips and macaroni. We immediately went to the line to grab food and then found a picnic table to sit in the shade. It’s quite scenic at the Rusk station. We walked around, took pictures, visited the gift shop for ice cream and waited for the train to board again.
Now the ride back was enjoyable, but started to feel long….and dusty. On the way to Rusk we were at the front of the line. On the way back to Palestine we were at the end of the line so all the dust kicked up ahead of us swirled around our car. I felt very dusty when we disembarked. I also didn’t read the reservation instructions which suggested bringing a pillow or blanket to sit on to alleviate the soreness from sitting on a wood bark bench style seat. All things considered we had a great time. The kids went to the concession stand a couple of times for snacks and drinks. The kids got to hang out and I was able to hang with my brother. We were back on the road to Tyler by 3pm which was necessary to get Stella over to gymnastics practice at 4:30.
I’d love to take the kids to Mineola to catch the Amtrack train to Dallas. It stops at Central Station downtown. We could have lunch, visit reunion tower or a museum downtown before boarding the 2hr train ride back to Tyler. That might have to be in fall as we’re about to start school around here.
The Gosdin Group 