Sierra Railroad Dinner Train

As our granddaughter loves train rides, our family of six took her on the Christmas Train Ride. The staff was very friendly but we were crammed into a booth in a very warm train car. The two of us sitting on the end seats had one cheek hanging off the entire ride. The train car was very warm and with the cramped corners, it made for an uncomfortable ride. They served watered-down cocoa and cookies. You could order coffee and adult beverages for an extra charge. The entertainment was so-so. We enjoyed Fred who played guitar while we all sang Christmas songs. Santa was a very sweet man and so good with the kids. This is one of those do once only kind of activities. It is kind of expensive so we were glad we got our tickets through Groupon. The train is kind of run down too. The Christmas lights inside didn't work and valances on the windows were either broken or missing. The carpet was in sad shape as well. But our granddaughter enjoyed it and asked to go back. Next year we'll try the Sacramento Christmas Train instead.

We went on the Christmas train it was cute there were characters and Santa ( he was really good and great with the kids) but they had the heat cranked up to 80 it was really warm on the train. You drive a total of 8 miles which is perfect for kids the cookies and hot coco was good. The staff was nice! I wouldn't mind trying another themed train ride. The car of the train we where in had a full bar. Overall wasn't bad but the car we where in was a little rundown.

A Fun train ride in Oakdale - Currently no longer running.
The train cars went to Napa to be used by the same company that ran the trains.

Not sure what Eric B from San Francisco is used to eating, but the word "stellar" does not come to mind when I think about my Sierra Railroad experience. The words that do come to mind are "waste of time and money."

Let's begin with the scenic ride. the first and last 50 minutes of the train ride pass through the nastiest parts of Oakdale. The junk yard, rusted out factories, dilapidated / abandoned homes and run down farms the scenic beauty must be reserved for the folks who take this train at night at least you won't be able to see the economic devastation & squalor in the dark.

Let's move on to food. My wife ordered "beef medallions" and got served two tiny pieces of dried out, grey pot roast-like substance. It was covered in canned gravy that tasted, well, brown. My fish was dry, but at least edible. The coffee tasted like it came out of a sewer. The portions were tiny.

And let's not forget; after charging me $55 per meal, and a mandatory 18% gratuity, they still charge your $2 for coffee and or soda. God only knows what the mark-up on the wine was like.

Let's finish with the service with the 18% mandatory gratuity paid up front, the wait staff is not motivated to actually wait. Our food arrived cold, 1.5 hours into the trip, and not much could be done about that the train has no food prep or warming technology. Granted, all staff were really nice and polite, but I guess they would need to be, hoping their pleasant dispositions could convince you there was something positive about this trip.

Bad acting, food not very good chicken Dry and salmon Dry. Too expensive for what you get. Have to be mostly drunk before there is any comedy in it.

It's really fun eating on a train, and the food was OK the day I was on it. The waiters were nice, but like Alex K said, what a horrible train trip. The name is misleading. You might see the Sierras from Oakdale on a clear day, but you won't get anywhere near them on this trip. There is nothing pretty to look at because the train goes Incredibly Slowly through the WORST parts of Oakdale (believe me - I know - I live here). If the train went much faster and into the hills just a little ways, there would be beautiful views from the rail car windows, but this trip is so slow it's ridiculous. I don't know why it's run this way, but you would have a much better time on just about any other scenic railroad in Northern California.

Not very good food, the entertainment was awful and we were basically stuck there for 3 hrs. OK this was a nice gift to us but they total experience was awful. How they stay in business, I don't know. Are they federally funded?

My husband took the High Noon Express, a 2½-hour round trip from Oakdale. We bought “premium” tickets, which included a lunch and the option of up to four drinks per person, including small glasses of beer or wine offered on a “tasting” menu (you could even keep the souvenir glass if you wanted to).

Lunch consisted of two airline-style servings of different kinds of salad, a bag of chips, and two very pretty spiral turkey “wraps.” It all tasted good, and the wraps were visually interesting as well. The two women who took care of us in the premium car were very friendly and attentive. The seats were comfortable, and the trip overall was pleasant and relaxing.

Unfortunately, if you’re expecting scenery, you’re pretty much out of luck. The view consisted of farm animals, fruit trees, and grape vines: a good sampling of California’s Central Valley “breadbasket,” but not really much to look at. The company does offer themed rides, for instance a “murder mystery” one, and perhaps one of those would have been livelier.

This was our first year on the zombie train. We have visited in the past for the Christmas train and New year's eve dinner train reach an enjoyable experience in their own right. The zombie train was very entertaining. It may be little intense for the very young, but any zombie fans and going to have a great time.

My husband and I have the same birthday. We were looking for something different to do this year. So we choose the Sierra Dinner Train, for a lunch time trip. We very much enjoyed our time on the train. Service was good food was tasty and presented well. Our train car was not even half full of people given this we felt the service could have been a little better. We had indicated it was our birthdays on our reservation and our dessert came with candle, which was nice. But no happy birthday song. We noticed several others on the train had birthday as well. So maybe a shout out and everyone invited to sing along would have been fun. We found the main car to be clean but not the lounge car or open air car. On the open air car the benches were dusty before the trip even started. In the lounge car the table were dusty and they were cobwebs. Cleaning those would not take much time.