When I learned about New Hope Valley Railway, I knew right away that this was one outing that I had to plan up. I marked on my calendar and checked back when it got close to the Santa train event. A few clicks later, I had secured our tickets!
Today was the day!
New Hope Valley Railway is located in the small town of Bonsal, NC and is about a 40 minute drive from our home in Clayton.
We recently bought my mother’s van and we were so excited to take Mason on this outing. The van is loaded and has a dvd viewing console. Mason was all set for the trip and settled into the movie he requested, Planes Fire and Rescue.
We arrived about a half an hour before our departure time and enjoyed watching the model trains. Mason loved them!
It was sprinkling a little when we first got there but Hope Valley is prepared for bad weather and had plenty of covered areas to stand and view the models.
Luckily, the rain let up and we headed over to the station.
Once at the station we toured some of the rail cars. All the volunteers were awesome and Andie said that their friendliness was what made it so special for her today.
Pretty soon the steam engine from the earlier session was coming around the bend. It was so exciting to hear and see.
While we were mesmerized with the steam engine, the diesel engine that Mason had chosen to ride slipped to the the back of the train and low and behold it was now the front of the train. We were ready to board.
The ride was so relaxing. You just go through the woods for about an hour. Along the way you get to listen to Christmas music and see wooden cutouts of candy canes, candles, Santa, bells and such.
When we got about a 1/2 hour in we stopped and I thought the engine was going to push us back to the station. Boy was I wrong. What it did was unhook and then go up a ways and then he came back down on the track beside us.
He went past us and then got in the back and then he was ready to pull us again.
About this time it was our car’s turn to see SANTA!
Right at the hour we were back in the station and everyone disembarked.
Mason was so impressed to be walking right beside Santa.
The fun wasn’t over and on our way out we got to see Frosty!
What a fun outing!
(Yep, that’s me and my super short new haircut!)
We loved New Hope Valley Railway!
Merry Christmas to you all and it is my prayer all your travels be magical!
A Handful of Spinach 
Hi, Melissa. My name is Natalie Costantino and I help New Hope Valley Railway with their public relations and marketing. I’m so glad you and your son Mason enjoyed the Santa train this past weekend at the rail yard! We would love to share your blog post and some of your photos on our social media pages. Would you mind if we shared your post and some photos on New Hope Valley Railway’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can let me know if we have your permission by emailing me at natalie@communicopiaPR.com or you can send a Facebook Message to New Hope Valley Railway at https://www.facebook.com/TriangleTrain. Thank you and great post!