If you’re like us, you may have a train lover in your home! We’re lucky here in St. Louis to have access to several whimsical spots where spotting a train is guaranteed, even moreso during the holiday season! Here’s a roundup of local spots where we love to see trains with our littles, during the holidays and beyond!
Dan’s Emerald Forest
8851 Windom Ave, Overland MO 63114
December Hours (subject to change) –
Wednesday – Thursday: 5:30 – 9 pm | Friday – Sunday: 5:30 – 10 pm
Closed Monday and Tuesday nights * Christmas and New Year’s weeks, open all week
Wabash Frisco + Pacific Railroad
155 Grand Avenue, Glencoe, MO 63038
NOT a holiday train, this one runs seasonally from spring through fall.
Sundays only from May – October | 10 am – 4 pm
The Wabash Frisco & Pacific Railroad invites you to come aboard our 12-inch gauge live steam railroad! The ride is a two-mile trip lasting about 40 minutes and travels along the scenic Meramec River.
St. Louis Zoo Zooline Railroad
1 Government Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110
The Emerson Zooline Railroad offers a 20-minute narrated tour weaving through tunnels and past favorite animal exhibits on a 1½-mile round trip. One of the Zoo’s most popular attractions, the Zooline Railroad has transported more than 39 million visitors since 1963. The railroad operates year-round, weather permitting.
The Zooline Railroad is ADA accessible. Passengers in wheelchairs have a large area on the train car, with fold down seats for companions. The Zoo has also added ramps with lower slopes.
Kirkwood Public Library
140 E. Jefferson Avenue, Kirkwood, MO 63122
The Kirkwood Public Library has a train theme!
Frisco Train Store
24 Front St, Valley Park, MO 63088
Closed for vacation from September 1 – September 17, 2025
Monday – Closed | Tuesday – Saturday 10 am – 5 pm | Sunday 12 pm – 5 pm
The Frisco Train Store has a free indoor play area with wooden trains and accessories to keep your train-loving, imaginative child entertained for hours! There are multiple levels in the store with elaborate train tables, vendor demos, a kitchen play area, and even a birthday party room for celebrations. Play for a while, see what your child falls in love with, then shop for the perfect gift (trains, puzzles, crafts, games, wooden playsets, engineer hats, etc.) on your way out! All aboard!!
Holiday Season at The Museum of Transportation
Museum hours and Creation Station sessions
2933 Barrett Station Rd St. Louis, MO 63122
See all the things that GO at the Museum of Transportation! Trains, cars, even a streetcar grace this fun museum. They also host a Creation Station play area with set playtimes. Join them for their Trick or Track Halloween events, their holiday events, or any day for an immersive train experience!
Trick or Track: October 18, 2025
Santa + Reindeer 2025 Schedule
Big Bend Railroad Club
8833 Big Bend Blvd, Webster Groves, MO
We are a 2-Rail O Scale (1/4″ to the foot) model railroad club that started in 1938 and have been located in the same building at 8833 Big Bend Boulevard, just west of Elm, in Webster Groves, Missouri for the whole time. The building is a former passenger depot for the Frisco Railway that was constructed in 1910.
We operate for the public on the first Tuesday of the month (Except holidays) from 7:00 PM until around 8:30 PM, with extra nights in December, and other days for special occasions.
West County Mall
This darling, trackless train is sure to be enjoyed in a climate-controlled setting and will allow you to take in the beautiful holiday decor at West County Mall during your ride! The train is located on level 1 under Barnes & Noble.
Polar Express at Union Station
Union Station, 1820 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103
THE POLAR EXPRESS™ train ride is back! Santa and his elves are full steam ahead for a trip to the North Pole for THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride at St. Louis Union Station this year! This is such a whimsical holiday experience to be lived at least once! Dress up in your coziest jammies and hop aboard the Polar Express for a trip to the North Pole! You’ll enjoy a narrated reading of the classic book, warm up with hot chocolate, and a yummy cookie! Once at the North Pole, Santa Claus himself will board your train to visit each boy and girl!
Running from November 14 – December 30
Santa’s Magical Kingdom Train Ride
What’s the best scene at Santa’s Magical Kingdom? It’s the look of awe and wonder on children’s faces as they board Santa’s very own train for their magical journey through millions of shimmering lights! Old Fashioned Holiday Wagon Rides are also available and offer guests an open air adventure with a 360° unobstructed view of all the incredible sights and sounds of the Kingdom. Available as group or private wagon rides, both offer fun and memorable ways to celebrate the season with friends and family!
“Train rides will seat 24 persons and are available MONDAY-THURSDAY ONLY at 5:30 pm from November 18 – December 4
Dates not yet published for 2025
$18 PER PERSON
Children two and under are free as long as they ride on the lap of an adult
Iron Spike Model Train Museum
1498 High Street, Washington, MO 63090
You and your family will learn about the history of railroads, and the opportunities they provided for families. You’ll see trains of various scales (sizes) running on massive train layouts! Visit us at 1498 High Street in Washington, MO.
Will you be traveling by train? One of the easiest ways to get here is to ride the Amtrak to Washington (see below!). You’ll enjoy ample parking if you arrive by car or bus.
Train Ride to Washington from Kirkwood
There’s nothing more charming than the Kirkwood Train Station decked out in holiday decor! Surprise your train lover with an Amtrak train ride from St. Louis to Washington, we promise they’ll love it!
Special Events
American Farm Heritage Museum HALLOWEENVILLE
1395 Museum Ave, Greenville, IL 62246
Friday + Saturday Nights in October | 6:30 – 9:30 pm
Take a ride on the Haunted Jack-o-lantern Express! Pumpkins for sale! Food stand with Hamburgers and Hotdogs
Holiday Flower and Train Show
Missouri Botanical Garden:4344 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110
November 15, 2025 – January 3, 2026
Immerse yourself among festive installations of poinsettias and other seasonal favorites presented alongside the newly planted permanent displays of Mediterranean species throughout the Emerson Conservatory.
Please note: trains are currently operating between 10 a.m.–2 p.m. daily and 5–9 p.m. during Garden Glow and may experience additional downtime required to repower engines.
Tree Lighting Ceremony
O’Fallon Municipal Centre
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
While your children enjoy holiday games and contests, parents can take a stroll through our Holiday Market and shop for festive home décor and unique artisan creations. Add a little cheer to your evening with hot drinks, treats and snacks while you search for that perfect gift for your loved ones! All aboard! Don’t forget to enjoy a ride on the City Train!
Christmas Lights Train Ride
November 28 – December 31, 2025 from 5 – 8 PM
4008 Healy Ln, Affton, MO 63123
The only interactive Christmas lights display for children where they ride through on a 70 year old amusement park kiddie train ride. They go through a time tunnel back to the year 1965 in the middle of a drive-in theater showing the classic: A Charlie Brown Christmas!
FREE train rides for the kids, weather permitting.
Santa Claus visits on Friday and Saturday nights in December!
All funds collected go directly to the St. Louis Shriners Hospital for Children.
Holiday Train Display
1630 Heritage Landing, St. Peters, MO 63303
November 29, 2025 – January 4, 2026
Wednesdays – Saturdays: 10 am – 5 pm
Sundays: noon – 5 pm
Explore local history this holiday season when you visit the St. Charles County Heritage Museum’s annual train display! Bring your family and friends to see the whimsical scenes and St. Charles County landmark model buildings. Adults and children of all ages delight in the sights and sounds of the trains as they make their way through part of the museum. The Heritage Museum is accepting donations for Toys for Tots again this season, so spread holiday cheer by bringing a new, unwrapped toy to the museum to donate to a child in need.
Metro East Model Railroad Club
Open House: Saturday, September 27, 2025 | 10 am – 3 pm
Holiday Open Houses:
November 22 from 10 am – 3 pm
December 6 from 10 am – 3 pm
December 20 from 10 am – 3 pm
180 Summit Avenue, Glen Carbon, IL
The Metro East Model Railroad Club holds open houses several times a year; and admission is FREE! Everyone is welcome, so please stop by.
Daniel’s Farm + Greenhouse Santa’s Train Land
352 Jungermann Rd, St. Peter’s, MO 63376
Weekends Only from November 29 – December 21
Saturdays 9 – 5 + Sundays 10 – 5
Two winter model train displays featuring G-Gauge trains. With lighted scenes, vintage vehicles, and animated items that are in his workshop!
Kids 12 and under are free with adult supervision | Adults are $5
St. Louis Iron Mountain + Southern Railway
Hwy 72 / 25 in Jackson, MO
We love trains here at the Iron Mountain Railway! Especially our train, which is a traveling history museum with passenger cars that are from 1926. Stepping back in time, we want you to make some memories as we travel along the tracks. The Iron Mountain is the only train we know of that is run entirely by trained volunteers. We want our passengers to have a good time, and we work very hard to make that happen. It’s not an ordinary train, there are lots of activities going on during our excursions. Trains robberies, treasure hunts, music, dinosaurs — you just never know who will show up for the ride. But we guarantee it won’t be ordinary.
The Santa Express
Tickets are on sale for one day only in January. Then they are gone! Check website to see when 2026 tickets will be on sale.
Enjoy the most magical time on our Christmas train. Filled with fun, enjoy the antics on the Iron Mountain as our Christmas special guests attempt to land Santa on our moving train. If we are successful, you will get to visit with him too! Games, songs, fun, and Christmas magic fill this train to the brim. Our volunteers work very hard to make sure that this is an amazing time.
The Great Train Show
January 25 – 26, 2025 | 10:00am-4:00pm
Gateway Convention Center – One Gateway Drive, Collinsville, IL 62234
The Nation’s largest traveling train show, with events each year in dozens of major cities across the country. Each show features hundreds of tables of trains for sale, huge operating displays, activities for kids and more. You’ll see the best that the model railroad hobby has to offer: beautifully designed and built model train layouts in operation, scale models of trains, cars and buildings, new products and collectible trains and toys from years past.
The show features dealers from across the country offering special deals and products hard to find anywhere else. There are free workshops and seminars where you can learn how to build a model railroad of your own, how to use digital command control, or how to make your trains and layout look ultra-realistic. Our shows are designed to promote model trains to even the youngest enthusiast, and many of our shows have a riding train within the show for kids to ride or have interactive exhibits where kids can operate part of a layout or race model trains or cars. All of our shows admit children for free!
Great St. Louis Christmas Train Show
Saturday, December 6 | 9 am – 3 pm
4300 Hoffmeister Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63125
Show is open to the General Public Refreshments, Operating Displays, All Gauges Represented. Swap meet for all scales and railroad-related items.
St. Charles Model Railroad Club TRAINFAIR 2025
January 3, 2026 | 10 am – 3 pm
St. Charles West High School: 3601 Droste Road, St. Charles, MO 63301
St. Charles Train Show
January 24-25, 2026
St. Charles Convention Center – 1 Convention Center Plaza, St. Charles, MO 63303“The train show is designed for children of all ages; for modelers, collectors and enthusiasts; for families in search of good old-fashioned fun; and for the simply curious. Each show features hundreds of tables of trains, accessories, scale models and collectible toys for sale as well as huge operating exhibits, activities for kids, free seminars and educational opportunities, and much more.”
Hello, I am a member of a train club in Webster Groves, Big Bend Railroad club. We have a layout that we open to the public the first Tuesday of every month and Saturdays in December. It is free to enter although donations are welcome. We are trying to restore our very old train depot. Thought I would share in case you would like to add to your list.