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Old Kentucky Dinner Train

Bardstown

One of the great adventures you can experience while in Bardstown is The Old Kentucky Dinner Train. This is a ride on refurbished 1940s passenger cars, equipped now with tables (photo, above). The station, the original 1860 Bardstown freight and passenger depot, is on North Third Street. The engines, seen in the photo at left, are General Motors Electromotive Diesel Electrics, officially termed SD40s. After several miles of backyards and rolling farmland, it passes through the Four Roses and Jim Beam Distillery properties, Knobs State Forest, and Bernheim Forest. At one point it crosses over the famous Jackson Hollow Trestle, the oldest remaining all wooden trestle in Kentucky. You eventually come to the Limestone Springs Depot, once in a separate village now a Shepherdsville suburb, and the engine uses a second track to move around to the other end of the train for the return trip. If you rode out facing backward you'll ride back facing forward, and vice versa. The round trip is 37 miles and takes from two and a half to three hours. It's most impressive in the Spring and Fall but is beautiful any time.

As for the food, this is a five star restaurant which happens to roll on wheels. The actual dinner train offers Prime Rib, Salmon, Chicken and Pork entrees with various Salads, Appetizers and Desserts. The food is excellent and portions generous. Many people take boxes home. On the lunch train, which traverses the exact same route, entree options are Hot Brown, Pot Roast and a Sauteed Vegetable Dish. Both meals share the same Salads and Desserts. The Chocolate ChooChoo and Chocolate Pecan Pie are delicious, but the winner is the Strawberry Cheesecake. All seats are sold, so if you only have two in your group you'll be sitting across from another couple. There's an onboard bar specializing in Bourbons. You can add a Charcuterie Board or Shrimp Cocktail for an extra charge. The cars are air conditioned and heated as needed, and there are onboard restroons. It's a very romantic environment and proposals are common. Around you may also be groups for promotions, retirements, birthdays or anniversaries.

R. J. Corman has been running this dinner train since 1988 and it has become extremely popular in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee. Many people make it an annual tradition. Many more people do it while in town for the Bourbon Trail. So reservations should be made well in advance.