At Tracks of Terror, You Ride the Essex Steam Train to Halloween (4.5 stars)
It’s Halloween time at The Essex Steam Train & Riverboat, where you can ride a real old-time steam train, built in the 1920s, through spooks and scares, in South Central Connecticut, south of Hartford.
You wait to go in next to a projected movie that seems to be a homemade thriller set on site! And then you walk in through performers to walk a 3-minute plywood maze with fog and lighting effects, including some storebought animatronics, where actors in Halloween costume jump out to scare you. It’s basic, and short, but it sets the mood.
Then you emerge into an open, outdoor courtyard to wait to board the train. The open night sky is thrilling to take in, surrounded by more Halloween animatronics and decorations. Roving actors in costume come out to scare and entertain you — and take photos if you like! It’s pleasant and comforting, with a cafe serving soda, hot or cold apple cider, and alcohol including beer, wine, and spiked cider, and plenty of picnic table seating.
The big event is the train ride, of course. You board a real, historic steam train from a century ago and ride out I assume most of the 23 miles of track, and back. Outside the train you’ll see two attractions. First, you’ll pass a cemetery haunted with ghouls and with fire effects, and a hangman platform, and then at the end of the track, where the train stops and reverses, you’ll find even more ghouls and lights.
It’s a delight to experience the journey of several minutes on the old time train, with comfortable seating and views of the nighttime forests and towns that you pass through. You sit in perfect comfort while bonding with a little nature, including houses lit up for the season. You’re also engaged by performers in the train car that tell spooky stories, lurch around scaring people, which has its own fog effects, and even have the audience participate.
The storytelling in the train was a bit hard to follow, and with uneven pacing, but not for lack of energy! Kudos to one actor who had to work up an entire train car of attendees on his own. I attended on a random October Thursday, an off-night for Halloween, and I assume that on weekends more performers are present.
It’s difficult to evaluate Tracks of Terror. There are many other Halloween attractions in New England with more theatrical maze walk and performances. Riding past the haunted outdoor cemetery went by so quickly, and then not much was happening at the end of the track. But the outdoor setting of Tracks of Terror is beautiful, and it does feature fire and fog effects, and there’s such heart in the love for the past. You can tell that the staff and volunteers absolutely love this place, which gives an infectious energy. And riding the train is such a unique experience. Edaville Railroad is closed for Halloween this year, and the only other Halloween train rides in New England are Railway Village in Maine and the much shorter trolley experiences at Shore Line Trolley in East Haven, CT and Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor, CT.
I’ll give Tracks of Terror at Essex Steam Train 4.5 stars, for the beauty of the train, enthusiasm of the staff, and the audience interaction. I assume that most nights are better staffed and organized than the off-peak Thursday that I attended. It’s hard to understand shouting, so perhaps giving the performer a microphone would help take command of the train car. The fog effects and screaming on the train were great fun, but also a distraction from admiring the scenery we rode past. There seems to be plenty of time for the performance perhaps to begin with a quiet ghost story where the focus of the passengers would looking out the window on the beautiful nighttime, as if to spot creatures in the night, before the special effects and shouting escalate.
See more at essexsteamtrain.com and The Essex Steam Train & Riverboat also has a Christmas train ride coming, where you travel to the “North Pole” to meet Santa!