My Old Kentucky Dinner Train (2026): Bardstown Dates, Tickets & What to Expect

Last revised: September 15, 2026

Bardstown’s My Old Kentucky Dinner Train is a seated four-course dinner in restored 1940s dining cars on a former Louisville & Nashville branch. The flagship Dinner Excursion is 2.5 hours and about 35 miles round trip from the depot at 602 North 3rd Street. Adult fare is listed at $116; children 5–12 at $76.50. Private tables for two are a separate ticket. This is the dinner product. Bourbon tasting is a different excursion.

RJ Corman FP7s #1940 and #1941 after a Bardstown excursion on June 20, 2009. The pair began as Southern (CNO&TP) #6141 and #6138. The railroad currently lists 50th Anniversary GP units on the dinner train. Doug Kroll photo.

About My Old Kentucky Dinner Train

R. J. Corman Railroad Group launched the dinner train in 1988 on the Bardstown Line, a roughly 20-mile former L&N branch Corman began operating in January 1987. The corridor was built as the Bardstown & Louisville Railroad (1860) and reached L&N in 1864. The round trip runs a little over 18 miles out to Limestone Springs Junction and back. Boarding is at the restored L&N freight depot (the passenger wing came off in 1953 after the L&N dropped passenger service on the branch).

The train is year-round. Lunch, dinner, bourbon, murder-mystery, and holiday specials share the same depot and the same dining cars. Dress is dressy casual—collared shirts, slacks or nice jeans; the railroad posts the full code on its site.

2026 Dinner Excursion — At a glance

Item	Detail
Product	Dinner Excursion (flagship); Lunch Train Excursion; themed specials
Location	602 North 3rd Street, Bardstown, Kentucky (Eastern time)
2026 season	Year-round; typical public dates Friday and Saturday. Confirm the live calendar.
Duration	Dinner about 2.5 hours; lunch about 2 hours
Meal	Gourmet four-course dinner prepared onboard; non-alcoholic beverages, coffee, and tea included
Typical fares	Adult (13+) $116; child (5–12) $76.50; private table for two $232 per person. Lunch from $63.50.
Official site	kydinnertrain.com

Menus, dates, and fares change. Confirm on the railroad before you book. Information compiled September 15, 2026.

What the evening is like

Plan to arrive about an hour before departure. Check in at The Depot for boarding passes. The gift shop, restrooms, and a full-service bar (including a long bourbon list) are open before you board. The train leaves on time. Once you are in the car, table numbers sit in the window sill; your server takes drink orders from the kitchen-car bar. Climate-controlled dining cars have restrooms on board.

The four-course meal is served through the evening while the train rolls the Kentucky countryside—Jim Beam country, the Jackson Hollow trestle in Bernheim Forest, and the usual Bardstown landmarks the railroad names on the product page. Tables of four are the standard. A private table for two is a different fare. Children under five are not permitted on the dinner excursion (Princess Tea, Superhero Smash, and North Pole Express are the listed exceptions on other products).

Another view of the FP7 pair at Bardstown on June 20, 2009. Doug Kroll photo.

Tickets & practical

Booking: FareHarbor on kydinnertrain.com, or the office Tuesday–Friday 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Eastern at 502-348-7300. Weekend dinners sell out; the railroad’s own reviews tell people to book months ahead.
Station / parking: 602 North 3rd Street, Bardstown. Eastern time—easy to miss if you are coming from the Louisville side of the time-zone line.
Dress: Dressy casual as posted. This is one of the few American dinner trains that still states a code.
Bourbon Excursion (21+, from $149.50, four-course meal plus a hosted tasting) is the whiskey product: mokdt-bourbon26.html.
Murder Mystery Dinner Train (from $96, four-course meal plus a live show) stays on the existing mystery page: myoldrjmurrides.html.

My Old Kentucky Dinner Train (2026): Bardstown Dates, Tickets & What to Expect

About My Old Kentucky Dinner Train

2026 Dinner Excursion — At a glance

What the evening is like

Tickets & practical

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