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Send me the listThree days. That is the entire 2026 run of the Pumpkin Patch Train at the Whippany Railway Museum, and it is the reason this one sells out while other fall events are still taking walk-ups in late October.
Here are the dates, the fares, and the details that actually matter when you are deciding whether to book.
The 2026 dates
- Sunday, October 4
- Saturday, October 10
- Sunday, October 11
Trips depart at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. on all three ride days. The museum itself is open from noon to 4 p.m. on those days, and admission to the grounds and the museum building is included with every train ticket.
What the ride actually is
It is a 10-mile round trip from Whippany to Roseland and back, about 45 minutes on the rails. Short enough that small children stay interested the whole way, long enough that it feels like a real train ride rather than a loop around a parking lot.
The part kids remember comes after. Every child with a valid train ticket goes to the pumpkin patch and picks out a free kid-sized pumpkin, plus a pumpkin decorating kit while supplies last. Costumes are encouraged, and enough families lean into it that the train genuinely looks the part.
Fares and the seating question
There are three classes of service, and the price gap between them is bigger than people expect.
Lackawanna Club Car No. 2454: $26 adults (13 and up), $25 children (12 and under). This is the award-winning restored subscription club car that once ran on a train known as the Millionaire’s Express.
Jersey Coast Club Car: $24 adults, $23 children. A Central Railroad of New Jersey club car outfitted with the amenities of the CNJ’s Blue Comet from the 1930s.
Caboose seating: $18 adults, $13 children. The cheapest option by a wide margin and, for a lot of kids, the most exciting one. It is a caboose.
Infants one year old and under ride free on laps.
If you are bringing young children and the goal is the pumpkin, caboose seating does the job for roughly half the price. If the adults care about the trains, the two restored club cars are the reason the museum exists and they are worth the difference.
How to get tickets
Advance tickets are available only through the museum’s own online ordering system, not through any third-party site. You can order online up to two hours before departure.
Anything left over is sold first-come, first-served at the museum starting at noon on each ride day, and on-site tickets are cash only. There are no refunds on prepaid tickets, including for weather.
Given three ride days and four departures each, that is twelve trains for the whole season. Book early.
What else is on the grounds
Your ticket covers the museum building, which holds railroad and steamship memorabilia, operating model trains and a gift shop, plus the outdoor equipment collection. That collection is genuinely good: steam locomotive No. 385, a row of restored cabooses from the Erie Lackawanna, Delaware and Hudson, New York Susquehanna and Western and Central Railroad of New Jersey, and vintage rail equipment scattered across the yard.
Budget time before or after your ride. Most families rush straight to the platform and miss it entirely.
The details
The Whippany Railway Museum sits at the corner of Route 10 West and Whippany Road in Whippany, part of Hanover Township. It is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has been preserving New Jersey railroad history since 1965, and the Pumpkin Patch Train is one of its fundraisers, so the ticket price goes back into the equipment.
Questions go to tickets@whippanyrailwaymuseum.net or the recorded line at (973) 887-8177.
Making a fall weekend of it: the county’s apple orchards are picking through October, and there is a full slate of fall festivals and fairs running alongside it.
