Fall train rides are one of those outings that work for both kids who are obsessed with trains and adults who just want an excuse to see Indiana in October. Around the state, railroads pair fall color with pumpkin patches, cider, Halloween costumes and vintage passenger cars.
These are the train rides in Indiana still running this fall, the rides near Indianapolis first, with rides in Noblesville, Fishers and Fortville and day trips to Metamora, North Vernon, North Judson and Pleasant Lake. Several are close to selling out, so check availability before you load the car. Pair a ride with more ideas from our fall bucket list.
Jump to a fall train ride:
- Fall Foliage Express
- Trick or Treat on the Rails
- Sullivan Express to PumpkinTown
- Piney Express at Piney Acres Farm
- Phantoms of the Canal Road
- Fall Colors Flyer
- Hoosier Valley Railroad Pumpkin Train
- Autumn Limited
- Finished for the season
Fall Train Rides Near Indianapolis
1. Fall Foliage Express
Location: Nickel Plate Express | Noblesville
Dates: Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026
Times: 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 1, 2026
Duration: 65 minutes
Price: $28 for ages 13 and older and $26 for ages 3 to 12 in standard coach; children younger than 3 ride free on a lap in standard coach. Caboose seats are $20, Diamond Class is $35 and a Platinum table for four is $120.
Address: 825 Forest Park Drive, Noblesville, IN 46060
Book Fall Foliage Express Tickets
The Fall Foliage Express keeps things simple: board a 1956 vintage train at Forest Park in Noblesville and ride through the countryside of northern Hamilton County as the leaves change. Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, is the date to book. Tickets include local apple cider and a fall sweet treat, and fall cocktails, beer and wine are sold for adults. The train takes credit cards only, and all sales are final. The open-window caboose has no heat and no restroom, so dress for the weather if that’s the car you pick.
2. Trick or Treat on the Rails
Location: Nickel Plate Express | Noblesville
Date: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026
Times: 11:30 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
Duration: 65 minutes
Price: Standard coach is $30 for ages 13 and older and $23 for ages 3 to 12; Diamond Class is $32 and $25. Private tables for four are sold too. Children 2 and younger ride free on a lap in standard seating.
Address: 825 Forest Park Drive, Noblesville, IN 46060
Book Trick or Treat on the Rails Tickets
Costumes are encouraged for kids and adults on Trick or Treat on the Rails, a Halloween-day ride aboard Nickel Plate Express’s 1956 train. Each child gets a trick-or-treat bag of goodies, and everyone gets apple cider. The train runs 35 minutes north from Forest Park toward Arcadia, switches engines and comes back, so families stay aboard the whole time. The cars are heated, there are restrooms on board and the train runs rain or shine. Both afternoon rides are back at the depot by 4:35 p.m., in time for neighborhood trick-or-treat hours.
3. Sullivan Express to PumpkinTown
Location: Allisonville Home and Garden by Sullivan | Fishers
Dates: Through Friday, Oct. 30, 2026; no rides on Halloween
Price: $65 per train car Monday through Thursday and $75 Friday through Sunday. One car holds about four adults and two children.
Address: 11405 Allisonville Road, Fishers, IN 46038
Book Sullivan Express to PumpkinTown Tickets
The Sullivan Express to PumpkinTown is a 15-minute round trip to a covered PumpkinTown with trick-or-treating, a magic show, a straw playground and two carnival game tokens for each child. Families usually stay about 45 minutes. Each holiday season, Sullivan runs the Sullivan Express to the North Pole from its Keystone Avenue store in Indianapolis. The train cars are enclosed and PumpkinTown is under cover, so it runs rain or shine. As of Oct. 20, 2026, the best chance at a car was a weekday evening, Monday, Oct. 26, through Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, with the most openings Monday through Wednesday. Extra game tokens are $12 for 15 or $20 for 30, and pumpkin decorating and s’mores kits are $6 each. Refunds and exchanges are possible up to 24 hours before your ride time.
4. Piney Express at Piney Acres Farm
Location: Piney Acres Farm | Fortville
Dates: Through Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026
Hours: 1 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday; noon to 7 p.m. Sunday
Price: The train is included in All Access: $20 for ages 3 to 13 and $18 for ages 13 and older. Adult general admission is $10 and doesn’t include the train; an $8 upgrade adds the train and the 150-foot slide. Tots are $5, and babies in a carrier or stroller are free.
Address: 1115 E. 1000 N., Fortville, IN 46040
View Piney Acres Fall Fun Details
The Piney Express is part of a farm day, not a stand-alone railroad trip. The farm train runs every hour during fall fun at Piney Acres Farm in Hancock County, where families also find hayrides, barnyard animals, gem mining and several play areas. The big corn maze is closed this season after flooding, but the Kids’ Corn Maze is open. The pumpkin patch is off-site this fall and doesn’t require admission. This is a good pick for younger train fans who want the ride to be one piece of the outing. For more farms with pumpkins, see our guide to pumpkin patches near Indianapolis.
Fall Train Rides Worth the Drive
5. Phantoms of the Canal Road
Location: Whitewater Valley Railroad | Metamora
Dates: Friday, Oct. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026
Times: Every 30 minutes from 6 to 9 p.m.
Duration: 20 minutes
Price: $10 for ages 2 and older, plus a 6% online fee
Departure address: Metamora ticket office, 19056 Main St., Metamora, IN 47030
Book Phantoms of the Canal Road Tickets
The Whitewater Valley Railroad’s Halloween ride in Metamora, once the Ghost Train, is now Phantoms of the Canal Road, a 20-minute evening ride on an open-air motorcar instead of a full train. It’s family-friendly, with no blood or gore, and it runs rain or shine, so dress for the weather. Daytime motorcar rides also run Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Oct. 31, 2026, for a suggested $10 donation, with tickets sold in person at the ticket office. Our guide to Phantoms of the Canal Road in Metamora has more on the ride.
6. Fall Colors Flyer
Location: Whitewater Valley Railroad and Madison Railroad | North Vernon
Date: Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026
Times: 12:01 and 2:01 p.m.
Duration: 75 minutes
Price: Coach seats are $25. Solarium seats are $50, South Lounge seats are $60, Tail View seats are $75 and bedroom suites for up to four are $100. A 6% online fee is added.
Departure address: Stellar Plaza, 6 N. Madison Ave., North Vernon, IN 47265
Book Fall Colors Flyer Tickets
With its Connersville trains out after the Aug. 13, 2026, flood, the Whitewater Valley Railroad teamed up with the Madison Railroad for the Fall Colors Flyer, a 75-minute ride through Jennings and Jefferson counties on former Pennsylvania Railroad track. Hosts ride in every car, and water, soda, candy and chips are sold on board. Coach seats were still available on both departures when we checked; most premium cars are booked by phone at (765) 825-2054. For more color without the train, see our favorite fall foliage destinations in Indiana.
7. Hoosier Valley Railroad Pumpkin Train
Location: Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum | North Judson
Date: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026
Times: 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., 1:30, 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. Central (10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Indianapolis time)
Duration: 45 minutes
Price: $20 for ages 16 and older; $15 for ages 3 to 15; ages 2 and younger ride free on a lap. First-class options are $25 for a lounge seat, $35 for the Norfolk and Western 300 with light refreshments and $80 for a private room for up to three. Online orders carry a booking fee.
Address: 507 Mulberry St., North Judson, IN 46366
Book Hoosier Valley Pumpkin Train Tickets
The Hoosier Valley Railroad Pumpkin Train makes a 45-minute, 10-mile round trip from North Judson to English Lake, crossing the Kankakee River before returning to the museum grounds. Afterward, every ticket holder picks a pumpkin from the patch on the museum grounds to take home. Families can choose open-air, coach or first-class seating, and trains run rain or shine. Enclosed coach and first-class seats are sold out on the 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. trains, which leaves open-air and open-window cars; the 9:30 a.m. train still has every seating type. Two planning details: there are no working restrooms on the train, and the museum runs on Central time, one hour behind Indianapolis. Arrive 30 minutes early, since late boarding isn’t allowed.
8. Autumn Limited
Location: Indiana Rail Experience | Pleasant Lake
Dates: Friday, Oct. 23, through Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026
Times: 2:30 p.m. Friday; 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Duration: About three hours
Price: Coach and the family package are sold out on every departure. First-class seats in the Silver Diner start at $179 plus a fee, and lounge, observation and private table seats cost more.
Book Autumn Limited Tickets
The diesel-powered Autumn Limited takes passengers on a three-hour fall color trip from the Pleasant Lake depot, 1469 W. Main St., to Reading, Mich., and back, with no stops or layovers. Cider and a seasonal dessert are part of the ride, and a cash bar serves guests 21 and older. With coach gone, the lap-child option is gone too, since children 3 and younger ride free only in coach. At those prices it’s a splurge, best for train fans who want first class.
Finished for the Season
These annual fall rides are done until next fall.
- French Lick Scenic Railway: The 90-minute scenic rides through Burton Tunnel ran through Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. The Polar Express Train Ride starts Friday, Nov. 6, 2026; see our guide to holiday train rides in Indiana.
- Fall Colors Steam Special: Indiana Rail Experience’s all-day steam trip behind Nickel Plate Road No. 765 ran Oct. 16 to 18, 2026, and sold out.
- Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville: The Fall Foliage Flyer and the Pumpkinliner aren’t running after the Aug. 13, 2026, flood. The railroad says significant work lies ahead before its trains can run again. In the meantime it runs the Fall Colors Flyer from North Vernon and the Metamora motorcar rides, both above, and it is taking flood-relief donations on the Whitewater Valley Railroad website.
Fall train rides can sell out, especially on the last October weekend. Check the official ticket page for current times and availability before you make the drive, and for the rest of the season’s family events, see things to do this weekend in Indianapolis.
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