A Pizza Train and Real Train Ride Adventures

Kids riding on the Scenic St. Croix Valley Train rides

short scenic rides

The Minnesota Transportation Museum offers pizza train rides most Saturdays, early May through sometime in September. Passengers ride in classic “Rock” commuter coach cars, and enjoy a personal pizza, brownie, soda, and a 90-minute ride through the St Croix Valley. Great for families - they even offer vegetarian, gluten-free, and non-dairy options.

Pick boarding passes up at 114 Depot Road, Osceola, WI 54020. Plan to arrive 30 minutes prior to departure time. Departure is not held for late-arriving passengers.

The Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway hosts 50-minute, roundtrip coach excursions between Osceola & Dresser; and 90 minute, roundtrip coach, between Osceola & Marine on St. Croix on an Empire Builder Fleet that begins in Osceola, WI. The railway cars are not wheelchair accessible, but there is a lift to the concession car. Coach passes may be purchased at the ticket window, but reservations are recommended as they don’t guarantee space. There are special Mother’s Day and Father’s Day excursions, and Pumpkin Express and Fall Color dates in October. Watch for holiday specials with Santa as well. www.transportationmuseum.org/trainrides

ONE MORE IDEA!

In Motherhood round one, my friend, Lucy, and I would tag team for a Red Wing Amtrak run. The ride price starts at $13 with 50% discounts for children 2-12, and a 10% discount for seniors. Departure is 8:50am, getting you to Red Wing at 9:45, just in time for playing a bit before lunch at the St. James Hotel! Because Amtrak makes the return trip late at night, long for some kids in Red Wing, one of us would ride the train with the kids, and the other drove the car to meet up there! Red Wing riverfront activities, lunch, explore, drive back. It would be especially fun for the Red Wing Children’s Book Festival in September of each year at the Anderson Center. https://www.andersoncenter.org/eventAuthorsIllustrators.html

TRAIN-Themed sleepovers & restaurants

If you’ve ever wanted to eat or sleep over in a Railway Car or historic Train Depot, check out this Only in Minnesota bucket list for a train-themed trip.

A few jokes for the ride

  • I tried to get a job as a railway conductor, but they didn’t think I had enough training.

  • How do locomotives hear? Through their engineers!

  • What do you call a locomotive that keeps sneezing? Achoo choo train.

  • A locomotive conductor can only think of one thing at a time. They all have one-track minds.

Trains, Places to goKaren Ritztrain ride, Minnesota Wisconsin train ride, Red Wing, Amtrak, Pizza Train, St. James Hotel, Minnesota Children's Book FestivalComment