There’s no place on Earth quite so lovely as New England in autumn.
My husband and I took a trip to New England to do a little leaf peeping. We had heard that this was a marvelous area for autumn foliage and it far exceeded our expectations.
Instead of driving through winding country roads to take in the scenery (as we had done in the past), we chose to leaf peep by train.
Come along on a leaf peeping tour of New England… by train!
Vermont
We took the Green Mountain Flyer from Bellows Falls to Chester Depot.
The railroad was built in 1850 and when you enter the ticket office and waiting room, it’s like stepping back in time to the 40s era.
We boarded the Classic Coach and traveled through the countryside enjoying the sights of autumn in a restored 1913 Rutlans Railcar, which is a wooden coach.
The coaches were pulled by a restored diesel locomotive.
The landscape was alive with color, and the scenery included covered bridges and the Brockway Mills Gorge, which was a magnificent sight.
The entire trip took approximately 2 hours. There was a 30 minute layover in Chester, Vermont which gave us a little time to explore the area.
New Hampshire
The White Mountains of New Hampshire are awesome when dressed in their colorful autumn gowns.
We arrived at the Mount Washington Valley, which is home to the Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway. Passengers have a choice of taking the tour to either Bartlett, Conway or Crawford Notch.
Hubby and I chose to take the Valley Train, which took us on a breathtaking tour of the Mount Washington Valley and the White Mountains.
We boarded the train at the North Conway station for the 1-3/4 hour trip to Bartlett.
The scenery was breathtaking as we traveled through forests, farmland and across the Ellis, East Branch and Saco rivers.
The restored coach we rode in was the Gertrude Emma Pullman Parlor and Observation Car. Originally built in 1898, this car has double windows, mahogany woodwork and wicker chairs. There is also an open observation deck that allows fabulous views of the autumn foliage.
Connecticut
And then it was on to Connecticut where we visited the Thomaston Connecticut Station. This train station was built in 1881 and has been renovated to appear much as it did in the 1950s.
The conductor walked the aisles of the train punching tickets just like they did so long ago.
As we departed, we traveled south along the Naugatuck River where we were privileged to see deer and a variety of other wildlife.
This is a part of Connecticut that is not accessible by road, and there is pristine wilderness everywhere you look. The Mattatuck Forest was breathtaking with hues of red, orange, yellow and green.
The highlight of the railroad tour is when the train crosses the face of the Thomaston Dam. We gazed out the window of the train at the river and the spillway below and the scene was totally awesome.
If you love leaf peeping and enjoy the romance of the old trains, be sure to add New England to your destination list for next Fall. We extremely enjoyed the experience and plan to revisit the area again in the near future.
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