Springdale to Van Buren Train Ride

The Springdale to Van Buren excursion is the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad's signature ride and the one most people mean when they search for the Van Buren train. The train leaves Springdale at 8:00 in the morning, winds south down the A&M's working freight line through river valleys, over high trestles and through the Winslow tunnel, and rolls into Van Buren for a three-hour layover — enough time for lunch and a walk along Main Street's shops and restaurants, which sit right beside the old Frisco depot. The return leg gets you back to Springdale between 4:30 and 5:30 in the afternoon, an eight-hour day in all. Passengers choose a car: restored 1920s coaches with bench seating, Premium cars (a 1950s parlor car with a rear observation deck and a 1950s diner car), or the Silver Feather dome car, where dome seating is one-way only on this route. Premium and Silver Feather tickets include morning and afternoon snack trays. Because the train shares a freight railroad, delays can happen and the railroad reserves the right to adjust schedules. We are an independent guide, not the railroad: current dates and fares are on the railroad's own page and booking calendar.

The geography does the work on this route. You leave the suburban edge of Northwest Arkansas behind within minutes and climb into the Boston Mountains, the highest part of the Ozarks, on a line the railroad ties to the Frisco system of the 1880s. The track follows creek valleys, crosses a series of high trestles, and passes through the Winslow tunnel — a 1,700-foot bore that the railroad calls out as a highlight — before dropping toward the Arkansas River valley and Van Buren.

Conductors narrate local history and wildlife, and the cars themselves (1920s to 1950s vintage) are part of the show: velvet-style bench seats that flip to face either direction, dining cars, and a dome with panoramic windows.

Choosing a car is the main decision. Coach is the budget seat and the most sociable; snack trays are an add-on that must be bought when you book. Premium adds table service in a parlor or diner car; one Premium car, The Explorer, is the railroad's only wheelchair-accessible car. The Silver Feather dome is the scenic upgrade, though on this route you ride in the dome in one direction only.

The railroad asks that Coach with snack trays, Premium and Silver Feather be reserved at least 48 hours ahead so the kitchen can prepare food, and online reservations carry a nonrefundable 6 percent processing fee.

Plan the layover rather than improvising it. Three hours is generous for a walk down Main Street, lunch, a look inside the visitor center in the depot, and perhaps a stroll to the riverfront at the foot of Main. Eat early or reserve a table if you are a big group, since a trainload arrives at once. Fall foliage weekends sell out first; the railroad publishes the live calendar on its booking page, and its phone line, 1-800-687-8600, can answer questions about cars, accessibility and group rates.

Discounted fares are offered for seniors (65 and older), military, AAA and AARP members and groups, and children are ages 3 to 12 — confirm the exact fares for your date when you book.