A Holiday Ride with Hot Chocolate

Celebrate the holiday season with a festive train ride. Embark on a 55-minute through rural Sauk County.

Aboard the train, passengers will enjoy festive decorations and music. Hot chocolate, a cookie, and candies will be provided by North Pole elves.

NOTE: SANTA IS NOT SCHEDULED TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE ON THIS TRAIN. For a train ride experience with Santa, please see our Santa Express trains.

Included with This Ticket

• 55-minute train ride in festively decorated early-1900s coach cars pulled by a diesel locomotive.
• Hot-chocolate beverage, a cookie, and holiday candies served at your seat.
• Admission to museum display buildings
• Self-guided tour pamphlet (provided at ticket window)

Duration

Train ride takes approximately 55-minutes. Suggested additional time to allow for taking the self-guided tour of the museum displays and a visit to the gift shop is about 1 hour. The museum areas can be explored before or after the train ride.

About our Museum and Train Excursions

Take a memorable, seven-mile round-trip train ride on a former branch line of the Chicago & North Western Railway nestled in a valley between the Baraboo Hills in rural Sauk County. Passengers ride in restored steel coaches built a century ago. An authentically-attired conductor will call “all aboard!” before the train leaves from a historic wooden depot, built in 1894.

Mid-Continent is much more than just a train ride. Our Coach Sheds are filled with restored wooden passenger cars, freight cars and displays from the turn of the century. There you will find examples of Mid-Continent’s nationally-renowned wood car restorations such as the Badger #2 “Fish Car”, the exquisite Art Nouveau-motif of the Milwaukee Lake Shore & Western #63, the 1903-built Copper Range coach #60. In our outdoor display yard, you can inspect century-old steam locomotives up-close, including Copper Range locomotive #29, Soo Line #2645 and Kewaunee Green Bay & Western #49. In all, there are nearly 40 train cars and locomotives on prominent display with many more awaiting restoration.

What to Know

• Holiday Flyer operates as scheduled regardless of weather conditions. If driving through winter weather please plan extra travel time and arrive at least 20 minutes prior to your train’s scheduled departure time.
• The museum has limited lighting of its outdoor areas. For best viewing of the outdoor exhibit areas, arrive early enough to view the museum before sunset.
• The museum gift shop will close when the last train departs. Plan to visit the gift shop prior to the departure of the last train ride.
• All trains are powered by diesel locomotives.
• Seating is not assigned.
• Temperature on the coaches can vary significantly depending on seat proximity to heat sources and doorways. Come prepared for a range of temperatures.
• The depot, gift shop, and restroom buildings are heated. The museum display buildings are not heated.