ALL ABOARD FOR A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
A map of 46 train-themed places to stay in the US and Canada: caboose motels, Pullman-car rooms, hotels in grand old depots, and rooms railfans swear by for watching trains.
46 stays shown
Three cabooses sit on rails on a wooded mountainside. Each has a private hot tub, deck and grill, and the site also has a depot-style cabin and a log cabin. Listed from $147 a night.
An RV park and motel on Route 66 that offers caboose suites and rail car suites as well as tiny homes and regular motel rooms.
The railway's own hotel, right beside the historic Williams Depot. It's the obvious base if you're riding the train to the Grand Canyon.
Fred Harvey's last great railroad hotel, designed by Mary Colter and opened in 1930. Its grounds face the platform, so trains are part of the scenery.
A family-owned B&B on the shore of Clear Lake in Lake County. Every room is a restored vintage caboose with its own theme.
A wilderness lodge with historic cabooses (some with climb-up cupolas) and old train-dispatcher cabins. Every caboose has a private bathroom.
A hotel built into a former grain elevator next to the tracks, so some rooms are curved silo rooms. It's a good spot for Southern California passenger-train watching.
💡 Room tip available
A historic caboose rental in Cascade, Colorado, beside Fountain Creek. The owners list it from $194 a night and offer a discount for booking direct.
A boutique hotel inside the restored Denver Union Station, upstairs from the bustling Great Hall and a working train station.
A 39-room boutique hotel built in 1898 by General William Jackson Palmer. It's steps from where the Durango & Silverton steam trains depart.
A small lodge for railfans with three suites, steps from one of the Midwest's best-known train-watching parks. There's also a renovated caboose on the grounds.
💡 Room tip available
A wildlife park west of Peoria that rents restored cabooses as cabins alongside its glamping and camping options. Lodging is listed from $98 a night.
26 of the hotel's 273 rooms are inside 1920s Pullman cars that sit on their original tracks on the second floor.
💡 Room tip available
A B&B in Chesterton's restored old freight station, packed with railroad antiques. Its owners call the area some of the best railfanning in the Midwest.
A two-bedroom, train-themed suite at a beach resort, with its own observation deck over the Downeaster line.
💡 Room tip available
Stay in 'Big Red,' a fully restored 1893 wooden Grand Trunk Western caboose with a bathroom, a kitchenette and a reading perch in the cupola.
An original 1920s Louisville & Nashville caboose with a queen bed, kitchenette and screened porch, at a marina inn on Lake Michigan.
An inn built from real boxcars on Minnesota's North Shore, with themed rooms such as Victorian, Safari, Lighthouse and Fishing.
A hotel in the Milwaukee Road Depot complex, whose station and train shed are on the National Register of Historic Places.
A Victorian B&B with restored railroad cars to sleep in, including the Palace Car, Imperial Car and Viking Car, plus a caboose.
A hotel in the landmark St. Louis Union Station. The complex also has an aquarium, a Ferris wheel and a nightly light show in the Grand Hall.
The restored 1923 King Edward Hotel, which stood empty for decades. Today many of its rooms overlook the Amtrak station and the rail yard.
A 1913 caboose restored as a four-season overnight rental, right next to McAdam's famous château-style station.
A Nebraska state park that rents 10 refurbished Union Pacific cabooses as air-conditioned cabins sleeping six. Open April 15 through September; bring your own bedding.
💡 Room tip available
A restored Fred Harvey hotel that sat empty for decades and reopened in 2019. You can arrive on Amtrak at the depot next door.
Vintage Canadian-built cabooses and boxcars turned into private suites, plus a restaurant in a dining car. Open seasonally; 2026 bookings ran May 1 to October 11.
A riverside retreat in southeast Ohio with five color-themed caboose rentals (red, blue, yellow, green and brown) plus cabins and a depot.
A 1950s railroad caboose turned into a tiny cabin in the woods, two miles west of Ash Cave. It has five sleeping berths, two of them in the cupola.
Three cabooses renovated in 2022-23 and rented for 'railway glamping' at a museum. The oldest is a 1921 Canadian National car.
An extended-stay hotel in the Pearl District with rooms that look down on Portland Union Station.
💡 Room tip available
A B&B for railfans on the west shore of the Susquehanna River, looking out at the famous Rockville Bridge. It has ten guest suites.
A hotel in the grand old DL&W passenger station in downtown Scranton, close to Steamtown's steam excursions.
A classic caboose motel in Lancaster County's Amish Country. It started in 1970 with 19 cabooses and now has 38, plus a baggage car and a mail car, painted in the colors of famous railroads.
A riverfront hotel at Station Square beside a busy CSX main line, with towboats on the river as a bonus. The Grand Concourse restaurant is inside the old station.
💡 Room tip available
Run by the Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad, this motel puts you in a real caboose right next to the excursion depot. It is seasonal; the 2026 season runs through October 24.
A railroad-themed B&B in an 1866 house that has welcomed railfans since 1993. Its big front porch is 145 feet from the Norfolk Southern main line.
A hotel inside Chattanooga's famous old terminal station. Besides regular rooms, it rents restored Pullman train carriages: the Sleeper Deluxe and the MacArthur Suite.
💡 Room tip available
A hotel in Memphis's century-old Central Station on South Main. The building is still a working Amtrak stop.
Nashville's grand old central train terminal, now a luxury hotel known for its vaulted lobby.
A historic inn in the Texas Hill Country that rents restored cabooses alongside its hotel rooms and cabins. It is a short walk from Lake LBJ. The cabooses have a queen bed, two short bunks and the original cupola.
A newer luxury hotel attached to Salt Lake City's 1909 Union Pacific Depot, which serves as its grand lobby.
A city hotel overlooking one of the busiest passenger rail spots in Virginia, with Amtrak, VRE commuter trains and Metro all in view.
💡 Room tip available
A small inn directly across from Ashland's old station, in a town where the main line runs down the center of the street. According to Trains.com, the inn's restaurant has a view of the trains.
Stay in restored 1968 Soo Line caboose #34. The owners also offer a shuttle service. Seasonal: their website's season notice may be out of date, so confirm before you go.
A standard chain hotel whose main draw for railfans is its spot right beside the Canadian National main line.
Two restored Wabash cabooses that the train tows to a remote spot on the Greenbrier River and leaves you there, with no cell service. Stays are 2 to 4 nights and start at $745 (2026 pricing); the 2026 season is sold out.
💡 Room tip available
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