Texas State Railroad Rusk Depot

I took the kids up to Palesine a few years back to do the Polar Express train ride and it was faboulous! They had hot coco, read the book, and dancing while we traveld to the «North Pole». The stop was decorated with thousands of lights and Santa got on the train for the ride back to the station and he passed bells! The kids had a great time and so did the adults!
This year we decided to do the Pumpkin Patch train tour… WOW! They went all out! We went in the later afternoon and the scenary to the pumpkin patch was beautiful. Once they stopped we left the train and were greated by a fair. There was live music, trick or treat houses, hay ride, and games. The kids picked out their pumpkins (which we decorated on the way back to the train station. From start to finsih the kids were treated as royalty with drinks and snacks and trick or treat bags to color!
I highly recommend doing either or both of the tours! Palestine and Rusk are beautiful small towns with lots of charm!

The Texas State Railroad is just an incredibly fun way to spend an afternoon. As mentioned in the previous review it runs from Palestine to Rusk and/​or Rusk to Palestine and back. The day we rode it was only running from Rusk to Palestine. The magnificent, beautiful machine that headed our train was #300, their 1917 Baldwin 2−8−0 83 Ton steam engine.
This is a good thing to review in photos, so I just uploaded about 80 – 90 of them for your viewing pleasure. I know train buffs love photos, so there’s ya a bunch of them.
I would say it’s best to call a few days in advance like we did, just so you know for sure which train is running. The staff consists of train lovers and they are very friendly, helpful and excited to take new reservations. They will tell you everything you want to know right over the phone.
Lunch is served, in our case in Palestine. That’s just excellent as you can eat in the park, which is located between a switching triangle so while enjoying lunch you can watch the engine and tender being switched to the other end of the train, for the return trip. Lunch consists of some quite delicious «deli style» sandwiches that are actually homemade by the staff at the train stations. We had both the turkey and ham sandwiches that came with salads and soft drinks or fresh homemade iced tea. The food was very fresh and delicious, and here’s a tip. Order your lunch with your train tickets, so when you get to the other station, all you have to do is give them your name and you don’t have to wait in line as they will have it ready for you.
Clean restrooms on the train and at both stations. Wheelchair friendly. A snack bar inside the diner car even serves up fresh scooped Texas Blue Bell Ice Cream.
If you have never laid back and relaxed to the sound of an early 20^th century steam train, with the windows open and smelling the fresh air wafting through the piney woods, go do it. One thing we will never forget (we actually were so relaxed we fell asleep for a few minutes), when we crossed a bridge we woke up with the sounds of the others passengers and kids exclaiming «Wow!». What happened was that the steam coming from the engine went down over the river and created a giant rainbow. Crew told us that that happens often.
Family friendly, totally fun lifetime memories to be found right here. Enjoy! :)