Crystal Lake: Pumpkin Train

It's Pumpkin Train season!
This one was hauling passengers around Crystal Lake's Johnny Appleseed Festival. 

Sept. 24, 2016 in downtown Crystal Lake

Pumpkin Farm Train Rides

Image courtesy of nuchylee
 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The clock is running out on opportunities for pumpkin farm fun this season. Most farm and orchard activities wrap up this weekend or run just through October 31. To find just the right last minute afternoon outing or day trip for your family -- with train ride options, of course! -- try these links:

"Looking for a Great Pumpkin" -- This Sun Times article offers a multitude of suggestions. Do a page search for "trains" and plenty of ideas appear, including All Seasons Apple Orchard in Woodstock, Dollinger Family Farm in Channahon, Harms Farm Garden Center in McHenry, Johansen Farms in Bolingbrook, Kuipers Farm in Maple Park, Randy's Vegetables in Sleepy Hollow and Siegel's Cottonwood Farms in Crest Hill. Take a special look at the steam train rides offered during the weekend at the Dollinger Family Farm. For $3, riders get a ride the rails on a real mini-steam train. 

Pumpkin Patches and More: Trains appear at Yaegers Farm Market in DeKalb, Anderson's Fun-E Farm in Plainfield, Stade's Market in McHenry,  All Seasons Orchard in Woodstock, Royal Oak Farm in Harvard,  Tom's Farm Market in Huntley, Konow's Corn Maze in Homer Glen, and Settlers Pond Shelter in Beecher. The Royal Oak Express at Royal Oak Farm offers a ride for parents and kids on a miniature replica of a 19th century train. Rides are $2.50. 

Make it Better:  A crisp, clean site with orchard suggestions for Northern Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. 

University of Illinois Extension: If you would like to head beyond the Chicago area, here's a good resources for farms in other areas of the state. 

Illinois AgFun Another list of Illinois pumpkin patches. 

Be sure to call ahead before you go to be sure your farm destination is still open! 

Union: Illinois Railway Museum

The signal collection at the Illinois Railway Museum
has always been a favorite spot for our family

In a new entry in the Best Ways to Keep Mom from Saying Goodnight contest that my oldest seems to run nightly, my train guy was studying an old calendar from the Illinois Railway Museum and trying to make me guess what events different colors represented. Since I found it easy to resist getting lured into a conversation about last year's activities, the procrastination was cut short. It did remind me, though, that the Union museum still has a few activities for visitors this year. If your schedule permits a drive out into the country, IRM is a great destination. On any visit, kids will love the train rides and seemingly endless cars and engines to explore. Special event days make the trip even more fun. 

Coming up this weekend (October 26-27), kids in costume will be able to take home treats from the Railway Museum's Trick or Treat Trolley event. Their website promises "free pumpkin and snack for  kids." It's a regular fare event of $10 for adults and $7 for kids, with a $38 family maximum. The grounds are open from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. 

For those who are older (at least 13) and enjoy being super scared this time of year, save Friday and Saturday night for the Terror on the Railroad Haunted Event. This runs from 7 till 11 p.m. for $13 or $18, depending on how much fear you'd like to cram into your evening. Check the link above for full details. 

Things calm down at the museum in November, although work is always being done behind the scenes. (Check IRM's blog to see some of those repairs and improvements.) The 2013 season ends with Christmas spirit during the first two weekends in December. Guests of the Happy Holiday Railway will be able to enjoy a wintery train ride and visit with Santa and the elves. Check with the museum for details and availability as holiday programs tend to sell out well in advance.

The Illinois Railway Museum is in Union, Illinois. For directions, click here. 

St. Charles: Norton Farm

Image courtesy of Arvind Balaraman at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Rain, rain, go away! I wish I could give you a first-hand account of the imaginative possibilities of  the train-shaped play structure at Norton Farm in St. Charles. The big, wooden engine and cars are just right for climbing on and embarking on a pretend cross-country adventure. Unfortunately, wet weather kept my school field trip group from exploring the activities of Norton's Hallow. Fortunately, the hallow will be open every nice day through Halloween, giving us another chance to visit and explore the train, climb the hay bales, enjoy the hay ride, see the pumpkin patch, and do all the other farm and harvest-store activities.  

Norton's Hallow is $3 for adults and kids over 3 and $1 for adults over 60. Check the website for hours and further details. The farm is at 39W369 Route 64 (North Avenue) in St. Charles. 

 , IL 60175

Mt. Prospect: Hoot! Hoot! Express train at Howlin' Halloween

Image courtesy of supakitmod
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Halloween train alert! This Saturday, October 19, visit the Mt. Prospect Park District's Lions Recreation Center for their annual  Howlin' Halloween event. The kid-friendly activities include rides on the Hoot! Hoot! Express. This colorful, trackless train is just right for the youngest railroad fans. Kids are welcome to come in costume and enjoy all the festival's activities, including kids' games, crafts, face panting, hay ride, pumpkins and live entertainment. Edible goodies will be available, too. (Take a look at the park district's website for photos from last year's event.) Everything happens between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Kids' tickets are $4. Adults get in free! 

The recreation center is located at 411 S. Maple St., Mt. Prospect. Call (847) 632-9333 for more information. 

South Elgin: Pumpkin Trolley (and the very scary Terror Trolley)

The Pumpkin Patch (a few years back)

Crisp fall weather and the gorgeous leaves of the Fox River Valley mean its time for the annual Pumpkin Trolley. This weekend and next, Oct. 12-13 and Oct. 19-20, visitors to the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin can enjoy a stop at the pumpkin patch during the trolley's run from the museum grounds to the Jon Duerr Forest Preserve and back. The trains run from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at regular prices.

A pumpkin to keep!

The museum will also be presenting the spooky side of the season Oct. 19 and 26 with the Ghost Story Train and the Terror Trolley. Just a very few seats remain for the Ghost Story Train, but plenty of brave souls can reserve seats on the Terror Trolley. The Ghost Story Train is appropriate for all ages. Only junior high-age students and older should attempt the Terror Trolley. Check the museum's website for additional details and to reserve tickets. Tickets for both events are $13.20 per person for all ages and will be available to pick up on the evening of the event. S'mores are included at both programs!

Here's a post I wrote last year about Trolley Fest at the Fox River Trolley Museum. 

Tinley Park: Odyssey Fun Farm's Cow Train

In my on-going quest to find the perfect combination of fall fun and railroad love, here's what's piqued my interest today: the Cow Train! Many orchards offer rides on a barrel train, which is usually a tractor pulling 55-gallon barrels hitched together. Odyssey Fun Farm in Tinley Park has taken the concept a step further with the Cow Train. No plain ol' barrels here. This "train" takes its farm location seriously with bovine-inspired, Holstein-patterned cars. 

In addition to the train and a pumpkin patch, Odyssey Fun Farm's other activities include pig races, a corn cannon, a pillow jumpy, kid zone, and a corn box (because corn is a lot less trouble to clean up from the floor of your car than all the usual sandbox sand!). There's plenty more to do and if you truly need more activities, or the weather doesn't cooperate, the farm is right next to Odyssey Fun World with ample inside entertainment options. 

Odyssey Fun Farm is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through October 27, weather permitting. Look it up on Google Earth before you go and you'll know you've found the right place by zooming in on the corn maze (although, as of this writing, last year's maze is what I saw). 

Glencoe: Chicago Botanic Garden's "Trains, Tricks & Treats"

I have a special place in my heart for the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe because it was there that my husband asked me to marry him. We were there the day after Christmas for that special event, but it's always a treat for us to visit in any season to see how the plants of the many gardens change with the seasons and the special events featured in such a beautiful setting. Autumn is a can't-miss time to go. 

In honor of Halloween, the Chicago Botanic Garden is decorating in especially spooky fashion in the delightful Model Railroad Garden. On October 19 and 20, young ghosts and goblins may visit in costume and trick or treat amid the train tracks.  "Tricks, Trains and Treats" happens from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. and full details -- there is an entry fee -- can be found at http://www.chicagobotanic.org. 

If you can' t make it to the Model Railroad Garden for the Halloween treats, be sure to visit before October 27, when the garden closes for the season. 

Expect fall color and spooky scenes during
the Model Railroad Garden's
"Trains, Tricks & Treats"
at the Chicago Botanic Garden

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.