Indiana Scenic Train Rides (2026): A Complete Guide

Last revised: October 2, 2026

Indiana’s 2026 train rides are spread across the map, and two names people still search are not selling trains. French Lick Scenic Railway is back on an October scenic calendar after a mid-season pause, through the Hoosier National Forest and Burton Tunnel. The Nickel Plate Express at Noblesville is a short Hamilton County ride with its own fall and Halloween tickets. Hoosier Valley at North Judson and the Hesston Steam Museum are smaller. The Indiana Rail Experience is a series of specials out of Pleasant Lake, including steam behind Nickel Plate 2-8-4 #765 on the days that listing names steam. Whitewater Valley at Connersville has been suspended since the August 13, 2026 flood. The Spirit of Jasper is not running public trains this year.

Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad and the Nickel Plate Express

The Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad's Nickel Plate Express, one of Indiana's newest tourist railroads offering many upscale accommoadations. Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad photo.

Tourism and excursion destinations only. Intercity travel: Amtrak Cardinal (Dyer, Rensselaer, Lafayette, Crawfordsville, Indianapolis, Connersville) and Lake Shore Limited (South Bend, Elkhart, Waterloo). Confirm the day. The Cardinal is not daily.

Indiana Train Rides at a Glance

Railroad / attraction	Area	Notes	Site / deep dive
French Lick Scenic Railway	French Lick	About 90 minutes; 1907 depot; Burton Tunnel. October scenic calendar is live. Polar is a different ticket	frenchlicktrain.com · Fall guide
Nickel Plate Express	Noblesville	Fall Foliage Express, about 65 minutes, from Hobbs Station in Forest Park. Railbikes are separate	nickelplateexpress.com
Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum	North Judson	Pumpkin trains Oct. 3, 10, 17, and 24: about 45 minutes, 10 miles round trip	hoosiervalley.org · (574) 896-3950
Hesston Steam Museum	Hesston / La Porte	Narrow-gauge steam on about 2 miles, plus a miniature line. October Ghost Train weekends	hesston.org · (219) 778-2783
Indiana Rail Experience	Pleasant Lake	Specials, not a daily train. NKP #765 on the posted steam dates. Some trips cross into Michigan	indianarailexperience.org

Confirm the day’s train. Wine, bourbon, and Halloween tickets are not the ordinary scenic. Compiled October 2, 2026.

State Rail History (Brief)

Indiana’s first completed steam railroad was the state project that became the Madison & Indianapolis. The Internal Improvement Act of 1836 started the line at Madison, on the Ohio River. A private company took the stalled work in the early 1840s. The first through train reached Indianapolis on October 1, 1847, about 86 miles. Madison Hill was too steep for the early engines, and horses pulled cars on the incline until the locomotive Reuben Wells. The Jeffersonville Railroad absorbed the Madison & Indianapolis in 1866, and that property entered the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1872. Indianapolis opened a union station in 1853. The 1888 Union Station is still standing.

Later the map belonged to the Pennsylvania, the New York Central’s Big Four, the Monon, the Nickel Plate, the Wabash, the Baltimore & Ohio, and the Southern into the resort country at French Lick. French Lick Scenic uses a piece of that Southern line. Whitewater Valley, when it runs, uses the old Big Four. The Nickel Plate Express takes its name from the Nickel Plate Road, which is also the railroad that built 2-8-4 #765, now based with the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society.

Related: Railroad history · Ohio · Illinois · Kentucky · Michigan.

Tourist Railroads & Excursions

French Lick Scenic Railway

The Indiana Railway Museum’s train leaves the 1907 limestone depot in French Lick. A scenic trip is about 90 minutes through the hills of the Hoosier National Forest, including the 2,200-foot Burton Tunnel. October 2026 is the scenic window after the summer maintenance pause. The railroad’s scenic page describes Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday departures at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. The ticket calendar on October 2 already showed a less regular pattern, with some trips sold out and at least one open departure that was not a Thursday or Saturday. Book the date that is actually on sale. An open-air car and an added Rock Island coach were on the October consist. This is a diesel scenic, not a dinner train. The railroad’s own FAQ points dinner riders to Jasper, and Jasper is not running. Bourbon, beer, and wine tastings are separate adult tickets. The Polar Express, about 65 minutes, runs November 6 through December 23 and is a different reservation.

French Lick fall trains · Indiana fall foliage trains · Indiana Polar Express · French Lick beer train · frenchlicktrain.com

Nickel Plate Express

The Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad boards at Hobbs Station in Forest Park, 825 Forest Park Drive, Noblesville. The Fall Foliage Express is about 65 minutes in a 1956 car through northern Hamilton County. Railbikes on a 7-mile trip are a different product. October also has its own night tickets: Bourbon n’ Blues on October 24, a two-hour ride for guests 21 and older; Trick or Treat on October 31, about 65 minutes; and Terror in Transylvania, about three hours and also 21 and older. Christmas is the Reindeer Express, covered on the Indiana Christmas page. Read the name on the ticket.

Indiana Christmas trains · nickelplateexpress.com

Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum

The museum is at 507 Mulberry Street in North Judson, on the old junction of the Erie, the Chesapeake & Ohio, the Pennsylvania, and the New York Central. The grounds are a free walk on operating Saturdays. The train is the ticket. Pumpkin trains for 2026 are October 3, 10, 17, and 24: about 45 minutes, a 10-mile round trip to English Lake and the Kankakee, on Central time. Call the depot at (574) 896-3950. A Santa train has run in other Decembers. Confirm 2026 before you treat it as booked.

hoosiervalley.org

Hesston Steam Museum

The LaPorte County Historical Steam Society runs a steam campus at 1201 East 1000 North, Hesston: traction engines and a sawmill as well as trains. The narrow-gauge railroad is about two miles. A miniature line is about a mile. The plan page does not print the gauge in inches, so this page does not either. October’s posted product is the Ghost Train on weekend dates. Confirm which weekend before you drive. The Candy Cane Express is on the calendar for December 5, 6, 12, and 13. The phone on the society’s listing is (219) 778-2783.

hesston.org

Indiana Rail Experience

Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society specials, run with the Indiana Northeastern Railroad, board at Pleasant Lake station, 1469 West Main Street. There is no daily scenic. What was still posted on October 2: the Hillsdale Railroad Festival on October 10; the Fall Color Steam Special on October 16, 17, and 18, an all-day trip behind Nickel Plate #765 that was sold out; and the Autumn Limited on October 23, 24, and 25, a diesel trip of about two and a half hours from Pleasant Lake to Reading, Michigan. A September 7 freight test had #765 and Nickel Plate SD9 #358 together. Wine & Whiskey is marked to return in 2027. Do not plan a 2026 tasting on that train.

indianarailexperience.org

Not Running in 2026

Whitewater Valley Railroad, Connersville and Metamora, took the West Fork of the Whitewater on August 13, 2026. The crest at Alpine was 21.78 feet. Passenger trains and ticket sales are suspended, including the Polar Express the railroad had hoped to run. What has resumed is a limited motorcar ride at Metamora, Saturdays and Sundays, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. That is not the train to Metamora people remember. Updates are on whitewatervalleyrr.org, (765) 825-2054, and on the flood report.

Spirit of Jasper has no public trains in 2026. The operator has said the pause is about car maintenance and track, in talks with the Indiana Railway Museum. The replica depot at 201 Mill Street stays open as a rental through Jasper Park & Recreation, 812-482-5959. When the Ride & Dine last ran, it was a different product from a French Lick scenic ticket.

Indiana dinner trains · Spirit of Jasper

Planning Tips

Southern Indiana: French Lick. Check the October calendar the day you book. Several early trips were already sold out on October 2.
Indianapolis north: Noblesville for a short ride, North Judson for the pumpkin train, Hesston if you want steam on a short line and a walk around the machines.
Steam on a main line: Pleasant Lake, and only on a date that names #765. The October 16–18 special was sold out.
Do not drive to Connersville or Jasper for a train until those operators post a public schedule again.

Seasonal & Related Reading

Indiana fall foliage trains · Indiana Christmas trains · Indiana dinner trains · Indiana Polar Express
National tourist trains · Fall foliage · Christmas trains · Polar Express
Neighbors: Ohio · Illinois · Kentucky · Michigan

Always verify schedules on the operator’s website before you travel. American-Rails.com does not sell tickets.

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