13 Trains That Take You Through America's Most Colorful Fall Rides

One of the best uses of your time in the autumn is simply watching the leaves change. There are few better ways to do that than with a train ride. Most railways are fairly inexpensive, trains often go away from civilization, and you don't have to drive yourself. That makes them ideal for enjoying a scenic journey through some hills or mountains before heading home and cleaning those same leaves your favorite leaf blower out of your lawn.

Not only will the scenery be pretty fantastic on a nice train ride, but the trains themselves are also pretty cool. There are so many across the U.S. alone, and many more all around the world. It's pretty easy to get swept up in the scenery and not pay attention to the massive machine hauling tons of weight along these old tracks. So, we here at SlashGear figured, why not talk about both? 

So, if you're into trains and also want to ride one that'll take you through some gorgeous fall foliage, the below railways not only have unique trains, but also sweet views for you to check out. It's a win-win for everyone. 

The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway is one heck of a name, but it's also a fun railroad for fans of autumn landscapes. This railway is one of only a couple of cog railways in the U.S., and as such is one of the more unique experiences. For the uninitiated, a cog railway uses a track with teeth that the train uses to climb steep inclines, unlike how normal trains stay on the track using curved wheels on smooth, flat tracks. 

Since it's such a unique railway, it makes sense trains would be, too. These trains are equipped with the proper wheels to make use of the extra toothed rail, allowing the train to climb. Today, Broadmoor uses a trio of Stadler trains constructed in Switzerland. These trains were delivered in 2021 and have been in use ever since. Each one is also equipped with a snowblower made by Zaugg that can blow away snow up to 10 feet high and 20 feed wide. This allows the trains to operate even in snowy conditions. 

Both Broadmoor and Stadlin aren't too forthcoming on the specific specs of the trains but given that there's only a couple of these types of trains in the U.S., they are definitely worth a mention. Plus, the railway takes you up to Pikes Peak in Colorado, which is 14,115 feet above sea level, and it promises an outstanding view of the fall foliage from way up high. 

The Strasburg No. 90 is one of the oldest trains in the U.S., and although it doesn't crack the list of the oldest trains running today, it's right up there with many of them. In its infancy, it transported cargo — namely sugar beets — through the mountains of northern Colorado. In the 1960s, it was sold to Strasburg Railway. The company fixed it up and put it to use on its tourism-focused railway. 

This train is unique because of its 2-10-0 wheel configuration, also known as a decapod. This style of train wasn't used terribly often because it isn't the most efficient setup for a train. The railway that owned it prior to Strasburg used a fleet of 2-8-0 trains instead, with the No. 90 being the only decapod on the roster. 

Good old No. 90 was built in 1924, which makes it just a hair over 100 years old. If you go to Strasburg Railway to ride it, you'll get a calm ride through the Pennsylvania countryside, which is a great place to catch some autumn color. 

The Shay No. 5 is another old train still in service today. It's run by Mountain Rail West Virginia, a railway company that hosts a number of trips through the West Virginia hillsides. Not only is this a great place to go if you want to see some autumn landscape, but the company's trains are also antiques, as evidenced by the Shay No. 5. This coal burner was originally built in 1905, now spending its retirement pulling people around pretty scenery.

Shay was a rather well-known manufacturer of trains, constructing 2,767 of them between 1878 and 1945. There are several of its models still on the rails today, with Mountain Rail West Virginia housing five of them. These Shay trains are all very similar, using coal and steam for locomotion with 200 pounds of boiler pressure. Newer models like the Shay No. 6, built in 1945, were much heavier, weighing in at around 270,000 pounds while the No. 5 clocks in at 141,300 pounds.

As with most older trains, you won't see Shay No. 5 on the list of the longest train lines, but it still gets up and goes for some autumn jaunts through the West Virginia hillsides. 

The Mount Washington Cog Railway is in rarified air, being one of only a couple of cog railways in the U.S., and one of the few in the world. This one takes passengers to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, where they get an hour to enjoy the view before riding back down. Since cog railways use special tracks that have a third rail, that means trains designed to run on them have to be specially designed to use that third rail. This is in contrast to something like a funicular train, which uses a tram-style system.

The railway uses biodiesel locomotives to ferry tourists to the top. Called the M1, which isn't quite as glamorous as some other locomotives on the list, but this model is special because it was built entirely in-house at the railway. The M1 and its brethren are powered by a 600 hp John Deere marine engine that can deliver 30,000 lb-ft of torque to special cog wheels used to propel the train up the mountain. Per the railway, each train uses 18-22 gallons of biodiesel per trip. By contrast, steam engines usually use around 1,000 gallons of water and a bunch of coal. 

The Conway Scenic Railroad is a marvelous railway for Fall viewing. Its most scenic route, dubbed the Mountaineer, is a 4.5-hour, 60-mile trip through the hills of New Hampshire, perfect for an autumn jaunt. Pulling the cars on the Conway Scenic Railroad is a relic of a bygone era. Known as the Steam Engine #7470, a 65-ton behemoth that is definitely the oldest train in the railroad's lineup. It was built in 1921. 

Steam Engine #7470 is an 0-6-0 train, which means it has six drive wheels, no trailing wheels, and no leading wheels. This arrangement is far more popular in Europe than in the U.S., but as evidenced by #7470, there are some examples on this side of the pond. Despite its advanced age, it still puts out 36,700 pounds of tractive force, which is more than enough to carry passengers.

This particular train also has quite a history. It started life as the Grand Trunk Railway #1795. It then became the Canadian National Railway #7470 before being purchased by Conway. At that point, it was the #47 before being renumbered back to the #7470. Conway also modernized the train, putting it out of service for four years while fixes and overhauls were done. 

Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad is a railway company that runs on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Its best ride for fall participants is a two-hour excursion near the St. Louis River (not to be confused with the city), which meanders around Spirit Mountain. You'll get to do so in style as well, as the railway employs several antique train pieces for riders, including the Safari Car, which is a flatbed car that's been converted to an open-air passenger car. It also uses two coach cars that were built in 1912 and have always been used in Minnesota. 

At the end of the line is the Locomotive 46, a General Electric Center Cab 50T Type Industrial Switcher. That's quite a mouthful, but these plucky little engines were designed mostly for industrial use. According to the railway, this particular example was built in 1946 and spent most of its working life at a paper mill before it was donated to the railway, where it now has a pleasant retirement, taking riders on joy rides. You don't see a lot of switcher engines like this these days, so train enthusiasts not only get a great view, but also a chance to see something they don't see every day. 

The Catskill Mountain Railroad is based in Kingston, New York, and has several rides that passengers can take to see the lovely autumn landscape in New York State. Among them is the Pumpkin Express, an eight-mile, one-hour trip to view the changing autumn leaves. Guests also get to choose a pumpkin to take home and decorate. Parties can also rent a whole train, with or without alcohol, if that's more your thing. Powering these rides is a duo of CMRR Alco engines that were built shortly after World War II ended. 

The first is CMRR Alco S-1 No. 407, and it started life in 1946. It generates 660 hp and weighs a touch under 200,000 pounds. As with most antique trains, it switched hands several times as it retired from working life and into the less intense life of hauling people. Catskill also employs the CMRR Alco RS-1 No. 401, which is a similar train that was built in 1950. The railway notes that if you show up for the seasonal rides, the No. 401 engine is the one you'll be riding. The other is used primarily for other scenic rides that the railway offers. 

When it comes to riding a train, few railways do it, such as the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in northern Ohio. The railway offers a choice between a two-hour and a 3.5-hour ride that boasts scenic views and historic landmarks. In fact, the CSVR runs through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and is the only such national park with a heritage railroad running through it. CSVR also offers educational rides along with an open-air car that does cigars and bourbon. Those rides are for those 21 and up, of course. 

The railway has a surprisingly large fleet that includes one Alco engine, five MLW engines, and its most recent acquisition, the American Locomotive Works #6773. This train was always built for passengers and was used by the Canadian National Railway for most of its life. It's also quite long at nearly 60 feet and is powered by a diesel engine. Originally, it could go as fast as 90 mph, but has been limited to 65 mph since its restoration by the CVSR in 2024. Power depended on the specific version of this engine, but at its maximum, it could output 3,000 horsepower. That explains how this engine can pull eight cars without assistance. 

The Amtrak Adirondack is both the name of the railway and also the name of the train that runs on it. This long-distance train travels from New York City to Montreal, Canada. According to Amtrak, you can board at New York City and be in Montreal by evening, and in reverse, be in New York City in time for dinner and a show. Between the two large destinations is a ton of autumn landscape to take in, and some of the photos are quite breathtaking. There's even a five-day Fall Foliage excursion if you just can't get enough of it. 

Amtrak has a huge map current and potential future routes and it uses lots of different train models. For the Adirondack, it appears to use the General Electric P42DC. These 4,000 hp monsters were made by General Electric from 1991 to 2001. Fun fact, its predecessor, the P40DC, had 44 examples in the wild, and all of them were owned by Amtrak. The P42DC are slightly upgraded models that Amtrak still uses, even though the company has mostly retired its iconic P40DC lineup. In any case, these diesel trains are built for long-distance travel, which is good, because the trip from New York to Montreal is approximately 10 hours. 

The Tennessee Railroad Valley is a delightful little railway in, you guessed it, Tennessee, right on the border of Georgia. Like many other railroads, you can buy tickets for a leisurely ride through the woodlands of Tennessee to take in all of its glory. The railway even advertises fall train rides taking you through plenty of wooded areas where you can see all of the trees. The rides take anywhere from 1-9 hours, so you have plenty of time to enjoy yourself. 

There are five antique engines that pull passengers around the various routes taken by the TRV. Each one is interesting in its own right, but the most interesting is arguably the Southern Railway 4501. This train was built in 1911, making it one of the oldest trains on the list. The steam engine comes with a 2-8-2 wheel configuration and spent most of its existence in obscurity until it was found by the eventual founders of the Tennessee Railroad Valley, buying it with their own funds. It was retired in 1999 and then brought back in 2014 after a lengthy restoration project, and it remains in service today, almost 115 years after its construction. 

When it comes to luxury, it's hard to argue with the Rocky Mountaineer. It operates out of Vancouver, Canada, where it has a few different routes that it takes. The railway specializes in luxury rides. It does this with its custom-designed coach cars, of which there are two varieties. The first is the SilverLeaf Coach, which has massive windows that partially dome over the top of the car, giving you an excellent view of the Canadian wilderness as you trek through it. Optionally, a patron can step up to the GoldLeaf Coach, which is made by Stadler Rail. It has even larger windows with curved glass, delivering an unobstructed view of your surroundings. 

Rocky Mountaineer employs approximately a dozen locomotives in total. The locomotive that the railway is arguably best known for is the SD40M-2. It's not particularly old, but it is quite powerful. The locomotive comes with a 20-cylinder turbocharged engine that outputs 3,600 hp of diesel power. To keep the train running for long periods, the locomotive is equipped with a 3,200-gallon fuel tank that is expandable to 4,000, but we're unsure if Rocky Mountaineer uses the expanded fuel tank. Before the SD40M-2, the railway's most famous train was its first one, a now-retired CNR 6060 steam engine known as Bullet-nosed Betty.

The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway has one of the more interesting and affordable autumn rides available to customers. Each ride is 70 minutes, and there are a few coach cars to choose from. The standard and Crown Class coaches are fairly typical, giving you a seat from which to view the Pennsylvania hillsides in the thick of fall. Lehigh also offers an open-air car where you can get fresh air while you take in the sights. There is also a first class and a private caboose if you want to go the extra mile. The railway offers a domed train as well, but that's not available in the autumn. 

Passengers are pulled along on a Reading & Northern SD50 train. This is a diesel train with 3,500 hp and a maximum speed of 65 mph. It doesn't differ a whole lot from the SD40 that the Rocky Mountaineer railway uses, and the specs are fairly similar. The biggest difference is that the SD50 gets its 3,500 hp from only 16 cylinders, whereas the SD40 gets 3,600 hp from 20 cylinders. The immense power gives it the ability to pull 82,100 pounds at 11 mph. The train goes faster than that, but it's rarely carrying that much weight in passengers. 

There are few railroads in the U.S. quite like Strasburg Rail Road. The company prides itself on its heritage locomotives, and you won't find anything in its fleet less than 100 years old. All of its trains are worthy of discussion, especially considering that they all run. Strasburg offers up 45-minute train rides across the Pennsylvania countryside that cut through Amish country, and you may get pulled by one of the nearly half a dozen locomotives on Strasburg's roster. For autumn, the railway offers a dinner-and-a-show type of experience with its Haunted Rails and Tales experience. 

We could write a whole article about Strasburg's heritage locomotives, but for this one, we'll talk about the Strasburg No. 475. This is the railway's oldest train. It was constructed in 1906 and features a 4-8-0 wheel configuration. According to Strasburg, it's the only locomotive with that wheel configuration still in operation in North America, and one of the last Norfolk & Western Railroad locomotives left in the world. It's a steam engine that weighs 206,200 pounds, and it's also the strongest locomotive in Strasburg's fleet. It also so happens to be a movie star, being the train used for the "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" movie released in 2000.