Every summer, MRPS normally takes to the rails to make sure that the wondrous experience of taking a train isn't forgotten. Over the years, we and our passengers have had many enjoyable trips together in our 1930s-era vintage coaches. For 2010, we're still doing necessary mechanical and cosmetic maintenance on our excursion cars, so our schedule is again very limited this year. However, we do have one great excursion planned for September!
On Saturday, September 18 we will again present riders with the opportunity to ride on our all-day 125-mile "Grand Circle" Rail Tour!
This has been our most popular train trip and has always sold out in the past. Leaving from Medina at 9:00am, we will go through Akron and Mogadore, past Wingfoot Lake and the Goodyear Blimp Hangar, then through Hartville, Canton, Brewster, Orrville and Spencer, and back to Medina around 4:30pm. During this trip we will be going through five different counties (Summit, Portage, Stark, Wayne, and Medina) and passing through the northern part of Ohio's largest Amish area.
We will have six cars available on this train - three air-conditioned coaches with reclining seats from the 1950s ($90.00 per seat), two vintage open-window Pullman coaches from the 1930s era ($70.00 per seat), and a first class dining/lounge car (only 10 seats available, $200 per seat). The first class passengers will enjoy full meal service from the car's railroad kitchen. Complimentary box lunches will be served on the coaches, and a snack/refreshment counter will also be available.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS and ticketing information. This will open up a flyer with all of the trip details that you can print out and pass along to your friends and family. Please also see our "Excursion Policies" page on this website. For information and tickets, call 1-866-247-1785 toll-free, or e-mail to midwestpreservation@gmail.com. Ticket sales are by advance purchase only - none will be sold the day of the trip. We hope you will join us for this exciting journey back to the "golden days" of train travel!
Whether or not you can make this excursion, keep in mind that we have a number of public open houses planned at our historic B&O Roundhouse facility. Click on the Open House link on the left for our open house schedule and a description of what you can expect to see. You'll get to see the facility where we do our restoration work, and tour cars that you wouldn't see on our excursions.
We would also like to thank all of the great folks who rode on our vintage Pullman cars and caboose on July 3rd at the Kent Heritage Festival! We ran 40-minute trips throughout the day and early evening at this annual event, departing from the old Erie Railroad depot (now the Pufferbelly Restaurant). If you missed it, plan to come on down for a fun day at the festival in 2011, and take a ride with us!
We want to thank all who have ridden with us in the past, we've enjoyed our time together, and we hope to see you again!