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| - I'm only reviewing Ales on Rails and that experience. I'm sure there are many other aspects of this train that aren't reflected in this.
We were scheduled for a 2PM trip for the Ales on Rails experience. The train got in almost exactly at 1:30 and we started boarding. Note that if you get the regular tickets ($50), it is general admission and seats are on a first come first serve basis. There was quite a line when we got to the station and it built up as we waited. There was a lot of confusion from the people directing the boarding. Train cars are numbered, but they didn't seem to be in numerical order... so actually getting on the train car we purchased tickets for took a few minutes of waiting because of the confusion.
Our group of 5 managed to board earlier than most, but we realized that the seating was in groups of 4, so I bit the bullet and sat on the other side of the aisle so the girlfriend could sit with her family. See the pictures for an idea of what it is like. First impression? Terrible. Every single seat was stained, torn, and in generally terrible shape. I was really put off sitting in these seats. They were comfortable, so there's that, but then you realize that there is almost zero leg space. I am not a tall guy at 5'8", but I was constantly rubbing knees with the guy sitting directly across from me. I would recommend sitting across from the person you are with if you came with only 2 people. Fortunately, the couple across from me was lighthearted about it and made it a comic relief as opposed to an awkward point. It's also quite loud on the train. If you're not sitting very close to who is talking, you probably won't be able to hear them
All of the people serving you drinks and food are volunteers. The website tells you that you will get samples of each beer, but really, you get pretty much as much as you want. They come by for the first serving, but then they come by another 4 times asking you if you would like more of the beer they are on. They move on after 20 minutes or so to the next brew. The food was alright. I would rather have it all at the beginning. Saves them time and aisle traffic.
The train ride itself goes pretty slowly. It's a two hour ride of going 1 hour one way and then reversing for 1 hour back to the station. It's nice to see a little bit more of the area around the Cuyahoga valley, but it wasn't anything spectacular or breathtaking. We are in Ohio, so the most we got was some waterways and a nice look at the fall colors.
Would I recommend this to someone? Definitely at least once. I would pony up and do the $75 ride instead of the $50, mostly because you get a lot more personal space and a table. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but I was pretty meh about the whole time.
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