Welcome to TriangleTrain.com

New Hope Valley Railway / North Carolina Railway Museum (NCRM)

Come out and visit us! The NCRM operates New Hope Valley Railway so that visitors can experience a ride on our historic railroad. Affectionately known as the “Triangle’s Train”, it travels along 4 miles of historic railroad track through piney woods and over a trestle on an hour-long, round trip from Bonsal to New Hill and back. In addition, on some ride days we also offer food and drinks for sale. Steam locomotive rides are not available at this time but our diesel locomotives travel down the same route and offer the same exciting excursions. Join us as a member and help us maintain and operate the railway and help us with education and sharing the technological heritage of railroads!

Please review the Plan Your Visit page for important information regarding your visit. Buy tickets online.

 

 Your last chance in the 2025 season for a weekday ride  is December 11th!  Santa will be at the North Pole feeding his reindeer, so he won’t be on the train, but the festive holiday decorations are a lovely start to the holiday season.  Perfect for school groups or anyone looking for a midweek boost of holiday cheer! Buy  tickets for the 12/11 midweek ride here

Celebrate 30 years of 🎅Christmas magic🎅 with New Hope Valley Railway!

Hop aboard our Santa Express and make this holiday season one to remember!

The most wonderful time of the year is almost here—so don’t wait to grab your tickets for our Santa Express rides!  Buy Tickets

Santa Express Ride Dates: December 6, 7, 13, 14 and 20

Departure Times: 9:30am • 11:00am • 12:30pm • 2:15pm • 3:45pm

Climb aboard the Santa Express for a 50-minute festive adventure through the twinkling, holiday-decorated woods! Play along with our Santa Express I Spy game as you spot cheerful decorations along the way. And of course, Santa himself will be on board to greet every passenger with a joyful “Ho, ho, ho!”

Keep your eyes out for Frosty, too, because he may just pop up to wave hello!

Stay cozy with hot chocolate or coffee in hand and enjoy yummy treats and bites from our local food trucks! Each day brings a food truck, dessert truck, and coffee truck to tempt your taste buds. Take a look at who’s joining us this season!

 

Seats vanish faster than Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve, so reserve your tickets today and make this magical holiday adventure part of your family’s traditions!  Buy Tickets

 

If the weather turns a bit chilly, make cozy memories by bringing along a blanket to snuggle under while you wait for your turn to visit Santa on the train. Want to stay extra warm? Snag a seat in our toasty cabooses—but hurry, those limited tickets go fast!

 

   

Operate a Loco for 2026 is now available for purchase!  Operating a real diesel locomotive makes a perfect Christmas Gift for that railfan in your family. Ride dates and times are in the schedule and starting after the Santa Express tickets on our Buy Tickets page. We have sessions for Father’s Day weekend available, too!

 

 

🚂Exciting News from the North Carolina Railway Museum!🚂

The North Carolina Railway Museum is thrilled to announce that we’ve received two grants to create exciting new educational exhibits for our museum! They are 50% matching grants, which means every dollar you give will be doubled.

With Giving Tuesday quickly approaching on Tuesday, December 2, please consider a donation to the North Carolina Railway Museum.

You’ve told us what matters most to you: more educational exhibits to explore, more hands-on learning opportunities for children, and improved accessibility for all visitors. These two new projects will make that vision a reality, adding over 80 new interactive, multimedia, and universally accessible experiences designed for learners of every age.

Project 1: LOCOMOTION – The Power to Move (STEM Exhibition)

This exhibit will feature engaging, interactive displays focused on locomotives 67, 71 (#3), and 75, along with the Swift Premium Reefer, a static display of railroad wheels and trucks (including a recreated traction truck), and the engine from a diesel-electric locomotive. (Concept sketch shown here)

Project 2: Voices From a Golden Age – Learning From Our Technological Heritage

This installation will highlight the 1918 ACL Baggage Car, Caboose 302 (a rare Nuclear Escort Vehicle donated by Duke Energy), and a Pre-K STEM Play-and-Learn area inside the Nickel Plate Road Caboose 468.

Our goal is to raise $71,500 in 2025 and $71,500 in 2026 to match these grants and complete both projects.

Your gift will help us bring history to life, inspire future engineers and innovators, and make our museum more engaging and inclusive than ever before.  Donate here

Volunteer with us and help repair and restore our vintage rail equipment while learning about the history of railroading in North Carolina. We typically work as a group on Wednesday and Saturday doing railcar restoration and maintenance of grounds, buildings and donated equipment. We need folks that like to fix things while helping a non-profit with a good cause. Some of the projects going on are: painting, track maintenance, railcar refurb, adding a deck to the Goldston Depot to be used as an indoor museum, reassemble #17 Steam Switcher Locomotive and we need a lead for the track crew. If you are more the artsy type, we need folks to create and install decorations for our 3 main events: Hop Into Spring, Track or Treat and the Santa Express. We also have a G-Scale Model Railroad with 11 tracks to operate and maintain. There are many things to do at NHV and we will provide a partner for training. Click here for membership info.

Adopt-A-Train program!

The North Carolina Railway Museum is delighted to announce that NOW you can adopt a train – locomotive, caboose, or railcar from our collection of heritage rolling stock! Your 12-month, symbolic adoption makes a great gift for your kids or love ones, memorial recognition, or business promotion at the same time that you are supporting our mission of preserving and sharing North Carolina railroad history for generations to come! For more information

Making Headlines
We appreciate the Triangle’s interest in our trains, events and rail yard! Below is some of the media coverage we’ve received.

Like and Follow our social media channels to stay up-to-date on the happenings in our rail yard. Facebook: @TriangleTrain Twitter: @Triangle_Train Instagram: @TriangleTrain and YouTube: Triangle Train – New Hope Valley Railway

Operate-a-Loco

Operate a real locomotive
from the engineer’s seat

Steam Loco #17 Refurb

Donate now to help this initiative!

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The New Hope Valley Railway is the Triangle’s Train, offering excursion rides on vintage equipment at the North Carolina Railway Museum. The North Carolina Railway Museum is a private, educational, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to preserving and sharing North Carolina’s railroad history. The open-air museum features displays of historic railroad equipment and artifacts, a large garden railroad, memorabilia, and a gift shop.

Year the organization was started.

Miles of track for an hour ride out & back.

%

All volunteer staff.

Minutes southwest of Raleigh NC.