Ohio Scenic Train Rides: A Complete Guide

Last revised: February 22, 2025

Ohio scenic train rides are prolific and many! If museums are more your thing several can also be found across the state. There are currently nearly a dozen tourist railroad attractions within the Buckeye State. These include:

Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad (a component of the Cedar Point amusement park)

Hocking Valley Scenic Railway (the only place to ride behind a historic, standard-gauge steam locomotive!)

Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad

Lorain & West Virginia Railway

Toledo, Lake Erie & Western Railway & Museum

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

Such a far-reaching selection can be attributed to Ohio's location and industrial might in bygone days.

Hocking Valley Scenic Railway's restored Chesapeake & Ohio GP7, #5833, is seen here next to the preserved C&O depot in Nelsonville, Ohio on July 27, 2009. Dan Robie photo.

With a peak mileage of 9,002 in 1920 (from the book, "The Routledge Historical Atlas Of The American Railroads" by author John F. Stover), only Illinois and Pennsylvania contained more trackage among Eastern/Midwestern states.

Within its borders could be found four major trunk lines (Erie, Baltimore & Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York Central), other important corridors linking important centers of commerce (such as Cleveland, Youngstown, Toledo, Akron, Columbus, and Cincinnati), and a multitude of branch lines serving agricultural and coal interests.

The information presented here highlights only the state's excursions and museums.

State Rail History

As railroads transitioned from entities serving local interests to a unified, national network, Ohio was poised to flourish. Chicago blossomed into an epicenter where railroads from the north, south, east, and west all converged and interchanged.

With most business flowing east-to-west, Ohio's mileage grew prodigiously during the 19th century. According to an in-depth analysis Trains Magazine published in its January, 2007 issue entitled, "Great Railroading: State-By-State," its first railroad was the Mad River & Lake Erie (MR&LE) chartered in 1835 to connect the Lake Erie port of Sandusky with Springfield.

It is also recognized as the first chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. Construction began from Sandusky on September 17, 1835; on hand for this event was General William Henry Harrison (who went on to become the 9th president of the United States in 1841) and Ohio governor Joseph Vance.

Thanks to the area's relatively flat topography, work proceeded quickly; in 1839 tracklayers arrived at Republic and then Tiffin by 1842.

Its initial southern terminus of Springfield was reached in June, 1849, a distance of 134.5 miles at a cost $1.754 million. In the following years the MR&LE continued to grow, extending to Dayton and Findlay by the early 1850's.

In 1858, however, the road abandoned its original alignment between Sandusky and Tiffin in favor of a better route built by the Sandusky City & Indiana Railroad via Clyde, Ohio.

During the next several decades the railroad changed hands and names multiple times.

The 19th century's mega-merger movement witnessed the East's four principle trunk lines coming together, a time which saw the MR&LE folded into the much larger Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway on November 1, 1890.

Better known as the "Big Four," the CCC&StL has its own long, and fascinating, history. It was created on June 30, 1889 when the New York Central & Hudson River merged three predecessors into one.

Into the 20th century, Ohio not only contained key through routes but was also an industrial powerhouse; Youngstown produced steel, Akron manufactured rubber, and Toledo was the so-called "Glass Capital Of The World."

Places like Cincinnati, Columbus, and even Canton were also major manufacturing centers.

Finally, the ports of Ashtabula, Lorain, Cleveland, and Sandusky handled millions of tons of iron ore from Minnesota that went into the production of steel while southern Ohio contained many coal mines.

The state's economy was so strong that many fondly remembered railroads served it in some fashion, names like:

Baltimore & Ohio

Pennsylvania

New York Central

Erie

Norfolk & Western

Chesapeake & Ohio

Akron, Canton & Youngstown

Wheeling & Lake Erie

Wabash

Nickel Plate Road (New York, Chicago & St. Louis)

Alas, following World War II, the state's heavy industry began a long decline as these businesses closed or were outsourced overseas.

In 1965, its total mileage had dropped to 8,131 and following railroading's dark decade of the 1970's, in which many carriers went bankrupt, mass abandonments were carried out.

By 1995 Ohio contained just 5,123 miles, a number which has more or less remained steady since that time. Today, the venerable names of yore are all gone, wiped away for the reasons mentioned above.

The state is currently served by Class I's CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern while numerous short lines make up the rest.

Overview

Its tourist railroad industry aims to preserve its rich history; most offer rides lasting more than an hour, allowing guests to view rolling farm country and breathtaking national parks.

Thanks to its location within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and proximity to the Cleveland metro region, the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad is the most popular.

It witnesses tens of thousands of visitors annually, offering all sorts of special trips throughout the year.

If you are interested in Ohio scenic train rides that pertain to specific events, such as "The Polar Express," Halloween, Thomas the Tank Engine excursions, or fall foliage events please visit the main tourist trains section of this website.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad

The Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad is an excursion train built for the popular theme park in Cedar Point in the 1960s. Today, it operates several steam locomotives (all historic and well worth the visit for any rail aficionado!) on a short stretch of narrow-gauge (36-inch) track that traverses the park's grounds.

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

Ohio's most popular scenic train ride is the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad thanks to its location to Cleveland and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

It uses tracks once owned by the Baltimore & Ohio and while the railroad does not maintain steam locomotives it does field a fleet of historic streamlined diesels built by the Montreal Locomotive Works (a division of American Locomotive).

Throughout the year they host special events (such as the popular Day Out With Thomas and holiday festivities such as during Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas).

Hocking Valley Scenic Railway

The Hocking Valley Scenic Railway is located in Nelsonville, Ohio and operates a former Chesapeake & Ohio branch to Athens.

The HVSR now offers the only place in Ohio were one can enjoy train rides behind a historic, standard-gauge steam locomotive. This 0-6-0 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1920 and spent much of its career for Ohio Power.

Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad

The Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad based in Lebanon, Ohio operates on trackage once owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Trains board from Lebanon for about a 1.5-hour trip while the railroad also offers numerous seasonal and special trains throughout the year.

Lorain & West Virginia Railway

The Lorain & West Virginia Railway based in Wellington, Ohio operates on trackage originally built by the railroad of the same name. Currently they have about 6 miles of track open for service but plan to restore the entire line between Wellington and Elyria operating both freight and passenger trains.

Toledo, Lake Erie & Western Railway & Museum

The Toledo, Lake Erie & Western Railway & Museum is based in Waterville, Ohio. The organization hosts a 15-mile round trip on trackage once owned by the "Nickel Plate Road." Their train is known as the Bluebird Passenger Train and normally operates between May and November.