Batavia: Pete's Train at Poplar Acres

A favorite miniature train ride from north-central Illinois has a new suburban location this fall. The Waterman & Western Railroad is currently chugging away at  Poplar Acres, just west of Batavia. "Pete's Train," named for builder and owner Pete Robinson, is a  "1/4 scale model F-3 Electromotive" in bright red and yellow pulling passengers in open-air cars also built by Robinson and his team. This is Poplar Farm's first public season in over two decades, and they have plenty more activities for fall fun. For $10 guests can ride the train as well as enjoy a tractor ride, two corn mazes, three big slides, baby animals, larger farm animals and more. Individual train ride tickets are $3. Hours are Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 8 pm. and Sundays from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. 

Poplar Acres is at 39 W. 100 Main Street, Batavia.  

Update: The Kane County Chronicle features a profile of Poplar Acres in the Oct. 5, 2013 edition of the paper. 

Trains as "icing-on-the-cake"

This is the time of year when the orchards are pulling out all the stops to bring in the crowds (and their dollars). Among the activities at the larger sites, a "train" of some sort that happens to have an apple or pumpkin theme often appears to entice families of little ones. I don't begrudge these places their success in marketing and entertaining, especially when the season is so brief. On the other hand, the grown ups in this household have the opposite goal of finding entertainment that is pleasant but affordable. Plunking down $10-plus dollars per kid for autumnal side show attractions just isn't happening for us. The point? We don't always go places to see the train or ride the train, we consider the train we happen to pass an icing-on-the-cake moment for the kid who always asks, "Do you think we will see a train?" 

At Waterman's Honey Hill Orchard

So this weekend, we headed out to Waterman for a day at Honey Hill Orchard. It was a delighful fall day on all sorts of levels, but for Mr. Train, just getting there was a treat. Our route took us along Route 30, a road that runs parallel to tracks from just west of Aurora Municipal Airport. Even though we didn't happen to pass any actual trains, the view from the van took in enough signals to make the drive fun. So it wasn't really a train day. It was an apple day with a side order of tracks. And that was good. 

Pumpkin trains

The apple-picking season is coming to a rapid end, thanks to our odd spring weather, but the pumpkin farms are now open in force.  Just like the orchards, the pumpkin patches are full of kids' activities, including trains! Yesterday I noted that I'd seen adds for trains at Bengtson's in Homer Glen and Siegel's in Crest Hill. My local paper today has an add for Pumpkin Train Rides in Waterman, Il. According to the add, there is a walk through the Haunted Train Station, a ride past Halloween-themed spooks, including a long tunnel, and a stop at a pumpkin patch for a free pumpkin. This train runs weekends in October, but if we miss out a visit during the fall season, it looks like the Waterman & Western Railroad is worth a visit throughout the year for other events or just a weekend jaunt on a small-scale model RR. 

From the family archives:
A visit to the pumpkin patch at
the Fox River Trolley Museum

I've mentioned it before, but pumpkin train rides are coming up at the Fox River Trolley Museum, too. It's a nice low-key outing for fall, especially with the beautiful scenery of the Fox River to enjoy. 

So, I keep looking at the holiday activity listings of all types. Finding a train ride with a seasonal twist isn't difficult at all.