All Aboard: Train Fun in Kansas City

Screaming in the tunnels, listening to the rhythm of the tracks and waving at passersby … memories of train rides are a highlight of childhood. Kansas City is home to several affordable train rides and attractions for families. Celebrate National Train Day on May 13 with one of these ideas.

Ride The Rails

Kansas City Northern Railroad The three restored G-16 open air trains operate on a half-mile of track.

Season: First weekend of May through last weekend of September.

Kansas City Zoo Train The zoo features an open air, large-scale train. A highlight of the ride is a trip through the tunnel.

Season: Year-round; operates daily if the weather is above 50 degrees.

Agricultural Hall of Fame Train Ride a narrow-gauge Union Pacific miniature train through the site. Explore museum exhibits and living history displays.

Season: Spring through fall.

Belton, Grandview and Kansas City Railroad

The BG&KC offers excursions running south from Belton on a 5-mile, 45-minute round trip.

Season: May through December.

Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad Ride through the Smoky Hill River Valley on the former Rock Island track laid in 1886!

Season: May through October. ASVRR.org

Watch And Enjoy Trains

Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant at Crown Center on Level I Model trains travel around the perimeter of the restaurant, delivering burgers and fries to your table.

Overland Park Arboretum 8909 W. 179th St., Overland Park. Enjoy the magical Train Garden, where trains wind through bluffs, over streams and through an old town.

Union Station 30 W. Pershing, Kansas City, Mo.

Union Station celebrates its rail history as a station for Amtrak and the home to an 8,000-square-foot model train exhibit and the KC Rail Experience.