Green Mountain Flyer

I wanted to like this, I really did. My husband and I are on a one-​year sabbatical, driving around the country in an RV. We came to Vermont specifically to see the leaves changing in the fall. The one thing my husband kept saying me, was that he couldn’t wait to ride the train to see the leaves changing. So we found the green Mountain Railroad online.
For starters, the website is very difficult to navigate. Both the homepage and the trains page provide the same information. Neither has the address for the station, however, the railroad company’s main address and phone number are on the bottom of the page.
To find the train schedule, I went to the FAQs. Couldn’t find it there, nor could I find the price. Finally realized to check the brochure link on the left side of the page. That’s where I found all my information. It was very clearly listed, and if the homepage had the same information, it would’ve been very very simple to navigate. Bottom line — for the fall schedule, we had four options.
1. Chester to Ludlow: a 10 mile ride that would take 45 minutes. The train stops at Ludlow, for aproximately 20 minutes, and then turns around and goes back.
2. There was another early afternoon ride to the city a bit further, that stayed in the station for approximately 20 minutes, and then went back.
3. The same as number one, but in the afternoon.
4. Take the morning train to Ludlow, stay in town for a few hours, and take the afternoon train back. We chose option four.
The train was nice, and the ride leisurely. The only problem was that the train tracks were set low in comparison to the foliage around us, therefore most of what we could see was beside the train tracks. I would recommend sitting on the east side of the train as they seemed to have better reviews than we did on the west. We were on the west side going up, and the east side coming back.
There is a train station in Ludlow, but there was a fire some years back. So when you get to Ludlow, there’s nothing to do but stand around outside, before getting on the train to go back. Which is what most people did. Only 5 of us stayed in town, to get lunch, shop and wander. Although the train had a number of brochures, books, and pamphlets about Vermont, there was nothing specific to the town. Even if the local chamber of commerce did not provide information, as a business decision I couldn’t understand why the train didn’t provide something — you know, a map of the Main Street with coupons, ads and the like. Or even providing the businesses with the train’s schedule so that they knew to expect tourists.
It’s a small, lazy town, but we were left to fend for ourselves. When we got off the train, my husband asked one of the guys working there for a restaurant suggestion, but when I looked it up on Unilocal,it only had 2 stars, with 48 reviews — so we took our fellow Unilocalers’ advice, and got a great pizza from a very cool husband and wife team. Thanks for the recommendation!
We wandered for a bit, took some more photos, and went into a few of the shops. Most shopkeepers didn’t know about the train, or didn’t care, or actually asked us where the station was! This is a town with one stoplight, and the «station» is three blocks up from the light!
Bottom line — it was $ 25 per person for us to drive 30 miles in 35 minutes to catch a train that went 10 miles in 45 minutes, and didn’t have much to do once we got there. The people were nice, but (and I’m not an entrepreneur) there are so many business opportunities that have not been taken, that I’m just shocked. And, if I understood correctly, the train has been stopping there for a year now! (I would’ve understood if this was their first season.) It was a beautiful day, and I am happy we went, but I left wanting so much more.