tennessee valley railroad (tvr)

My son is a little obsessed with trains. We live, breathe, eat trains. It's an obsession encourage. When we saw this we knew we had to go so he could ride a train. The highlight of his trip! There are a lot of old vintage trains to look at and get on. We even got to be pulled by an extremely old completely refinished Steamie (for those of you train fans you'll know!) train. It pulled us down the track to an original turn table and we got to see the train actually turn around on the turn table!! His face was priceless. For those of you who aren't train fanatics it maybe "boring"...in any case...you are boring. Who needs YA. In all seriousness it was a fantastic part of history. A must see.

The museum was just plain interesting! There was no shortage of questions being asked and answered appropriately. We observed several families with small children. It was delightful watching them discover rail travel. It was heartwarming to hear some of the older passengers tell about that adventures when they were young. The conductors helped us get outside photo shots. The tour was very informative.

if you like trains and engines this is a must see trip, reasonably priced and quite popular with lovingly restored engines.

I have been several times to ride the railroad out to the rail car restoration site, but my most fun was with my kids during a Thomas the Train day out. It was very exciting for them at 6 and 3 to see their favorite characters and live a day in the imaginary land of Sodor.

HI I am 36 year old female from pf tn. my friend from church beverly and I drove down for the day to ride the train. the place was absolutely beautiful. the train yard you could visit was very nice. the museum itself was small but was really neat. the train we rode was so great. the conductor was hilarious and very accomodating. all the staff was very knowledable about the area. The speaker was young and very entertaining. I have pics i will post later. I would highly reccommend this for a date because you can do a dinner train. also for families or church groups or daycares or seniors. loved it. please go to this place you will love it.We did the day missionary ridge local ride. it was short but worth it.

Loved seeing all the trains. And the daily trips on the trains was great for all of us. Would recommend taking anyone that loves trains to this area especially for the turntable and the tunnel.

First off, if you've never been to TVRM and you use trip adviser for a source, don't believe most of these comments with one star. In the winter months, they are only open on weekends and in the summer,they're open all 7 days. The staff is very friendly and always helpful. The missionary ridge local is a great ride and you learn about what the railroad did back in the old days. The local is pulled by a diesel in the winter time and most of the time by steam engine in the summer. They have other fantastic attractions like the Chickamauga turn and the Summerville Steam Specials for those that want to ride all day. Great place for kids that like trains and want to ride. 5 of 5 stars.

I tried to go here. I looked the site up on the internet and it looked interesting. I drove over only to find it was only open on the weekends. The web site did not mention this or it was not very evident. I arrived only to an empty parking lot and a view of rusting railroad cars. I will not return again.

It was a delightful trip. The 'tour guide' was knowledgeable and spoke very distinctly. Having the conductor come through cars and punching our ticket was like stepping back in time.

We went on the Missionary Ridge Run, which lasts about one hour. It was interesting, and our guide was very knowledgeable, friendly, and genuine. He made what would have been a boring trip very enjoyable. It was fun, but be aware that a lot of kids visit. I didn't mind them, but they sometimes can be a distraction. I really like trains, but I will only go again when I am able to take one of their full day tours.

We have gone on 2 trips with the TVR. We did the historic tour that takes you into Georgia and back. The tour guide dressed as a soldier was fantastic! You can tell he actually knew what he was talking about and not just reading a script. He was also happy to engage in conversation with people who wanted to know more about Tennessee's role in the Civil War.We also went on a Train Ride with Santa. This is definitely geared towards children, but if you love all things Christmas, it's definitely worth it.They have all sorts of train rides in classic cars with different themes and lengths. The only thing we didn't appreciate was the attitudes of some of the staff in the gift shop. (Older ladies, probably tired, lol) We will definitely be back to try a different tour.

The idea sounded cool: Let's have dinner on a train! So the train goes very slowly through the worst parts of Chattanooga, but it doesn't really matter because they leave the lights on the whole time so you can't see out the windows anyway. That is, until you pass a convenience store, then you can see the gas pumps fairly well. The traffic driving past the train can see you, however; it's like living in a fish bowl. The food is not bad, but is the caliber of a Golden Corral or a Piccadilly Cafeteria. If you want to go on a train ride skip the dinner and ride during the day when you can see something.

Great family fun, even though there was a light rain all day. It was my wife's first time here, and she loved it!

This is a place you got to go if you love trains...Kids and adults alike will have a amazing time here. They have so much to see and there is so much to learn that I have a feeling any train lover will be planning their next visit before they are out of the parking lot!

The first problem with TVR is that the staff were not friendly. We had questions we couldn't get answered on phone or the internet so we showed up a day early to ask in person. The only people around were in the main office. They wouldn't open the door but a crack, appeared as if they were horrified someone would dare ask them questions, and made it clear they did not want to be disturbed. The actual polar express ride would be okay for younger kids. My child was 7 and was probably already too old for this. They serve mild and gingerbread cookies and read a story and the scenery is okay. The biggest problem is that the train creeps along at an unbearably slow speed so that you don't really feel like your having a fun train ride; The distance the train goes is not great, and that is why it must go slow, in order to allow time to be spent traveling. Santa does come on board and spent time with each child, and the train does go fast through the tunnel but otherwise it creeps along slower than any other ride, including Thomas.