Tag Archives: Pumpkin Train

Coopersville & Marne Railway announces 2020 season schedule

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By Jim Bogart
Coopersville & Marne Railway

The Coopersville & Marne Railway has announced its passenger train schedule for the 2020 season. Included are the ever popular  EnterTRAINment Excursions, featuring local area musicians, as well as special theme trains throughout the year.

The new season kicks off with the Second Annual “Beat the Train 5K” race on Saturday March 21st . Some of the proceeds for this event are donated to the Western Michigan Society for Industrial Heritage; a non-profit organization that is a handicap accessible car for use on the Coopersville & Marne Railway. Additional information about this event can be found at beatthetraincoop.com.

The Easter Bunny and its cast of wacky musical friends come to Coopersville on March 28th to begin three weekends of Bunny Train entertainment for passengers of all ages. This year’s cast features members of LionHeart Productions from Grant, Michigan.

On Memorial Day, May 25 , the Coopersville & Marne Railway will honor America’s veterans with its “Veteran’s Troop Train.” Veterans ride for free for this special event, as a Thank You for their service to our country.

June begins a full season of activity on the rails. EnterTRAINment Excursions will be featured on two Saturdays and one Wednesday each month from June 6th to September 5th . The Wednesday trains return this year after having been cancelled in 2019 to allow for track maintenance.

The always popular “Great Train Robbery” moves from July to June this year. It will include two trains each on Saturday June 13th and Saturday June 20 th . Featuring bad guys, good guys, dance hall girls and lots of horses you’ll experience train travel as it was in the Old West.

Our friends from LionHeart Productions return in August to present another “Murder Mystery Train.” Come out for an evening train ride on Saturday August 15th and Saturday August 22nd , and match wits with you fellow passengers to determine ‘Who Dunit.’

Our Famous Pumpkin and his friends, Scarecrow and Li’l Crow return each weekend in October. They will entertain passengers with songs and jokes on the annual “Pumpkin Train.”

Then each weekend from Thanksgiving to Christmas the train becomes home to Santa Claus along with his elves and a story telling Princess; for the “Santa Train.”

A complete schedule of Coopersville & Marne Railway activities for 2020 is attached. In addition, some other activities, to be announced later, are still in the planning stages. Those include special events to commemorate the Grand Opening of a new full-service station, in historic downtown Coopersville, as well as the 30 th anniversary of the Coopersville & Marne’s first train on July 4, 1990.

The Coopersville & Marne Railway is West Michigan’s “All Volunteer Vintage Railroad.” It features a leisurely 90-minute ride from Coopersville to Marne and back; allowing passengers to experience rail travel as it was in the 1950s.

The popular Santa Train will run Nov. 28 – Dec. 20. (Supplied)

2020 SCHEDULE

EnterTRAINment Excursions
Saturdays at 11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.
June 6 & 27
July 11 & 18
August 15 & 22
September 5
Wednesdays at 11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.
June 17
July 15
August 12

Beat the Train 5K Race
Saturday March 21 (9 a.m.)

Bunny Train
Saturday March 28 (11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.)
Sunday March 29 (1 p.m.)
Saturday April 4 (11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.)
Sunday April 5 (1 pm & 3 p.m.)
Saturday April 11 (11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., & 3:30 p.m.)

Veterans’ Troop Train
Monday May 25 (11 a.m.)

Great Train Robbery
Saturday June 13th (10:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.)
Saturday June 20th (10:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.)

Coopersville Car Show Shuttle
Saturday August 8th (10:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.)

Murder Mystery Train
Saturday August 15 (6:30 p.m.)
Saturday August 22 (6:30 p.m.)

Famous Pumpkin Train
Saturdays at 11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.
October 3, 10, 17 & 31
Saturday at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. & 3:30 p.m.
October 24
Sundays at 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.
October 4, 11, 18, & 25

Santa Train
Saturday at 11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.
November 28
Sundays at 1 & 3 p.m.
November 29, December 6
Saturdays at 10 a.m., noon, 2:30 & 4:30 p.m.
December 5, 12 & 19
Sundays at 11 a.m., 1:30 & 3:30 p.m.
December 13 & 20

Celebrate fall with the Famous Pumpkin Train

Citizen Journalism,

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Fall is in the air and that means the Coopersville and Marne Railway is getting ready to depart its annual Famous Pumpkin Train. Adults: $19.75, Seniors (60+): $18.75, Children (2-12): $17.75. Children under two years old get a free ticket. All children’s tickets include a pumpkin that they can pick from the track-side pumpkin patch. The train will depart Saturdays: Sept. 30, Oct. 7, and 14 at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturdays: Oct., 21 and 28 at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. Sundays: Oct 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 at 1 and 3 p.m. For tickets or more information visit mitrain.net or call 616-997-7000. The friendly Conductor will call “All Aboard” at 20 minutes before each departure.

 

The Famous Pumpkin and her cast of delightful musical characters will “enterTRAIN” you and your guests during the 90-minute ride through family owned farms and fields. During the journey the costumed characters will sing, dance, and entertain the kiddos. All of the vintage train cars are decorated for the season. Some cars are almost 100 years old. Each railcar is heated and has a restroom. The locomotive is a 1950’s era diesel/electric engine. Kids 12 and under are encouraged to come in costume for some holiday fun, and yes, adults may dress up too.

 

About the Coopersville and Marne Railway:

 

An all-volunteer historic railway operating vintage locomotives and circa-1920’s cars from Coopersville, Mich. to Marne, Mich. (about 20 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, Mich.). We run passenger trains from spring to winter, rain or shine, to preserve a little chunk of railroad history and educate our passengers along the way. We train volunteers in operating and repairing railroad equipment, many of whom end up getting hired away by large commercial railroads once they’ve completed training with us.