Every October, a train pulls out of a small 1881 station in Thomaston and heads north along the Naugatuck River, and for about an hour the passengers aboard get a version of the Litchfield Hills that is hard to see from a car. The Pumpkin Patch Express, run by the Railroad Museum of New England on its Naugatuck Railroad, is one of the museum's most popular fall excursions, and it runs in the weeks leading up to Halloween. In 2026 the schedule includes a run on Sunday, October 25, departing from Thomaston Station at 242 East Main Street between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
The premise is simple and, judging by the museum's own description, deliberately aimed at younger riders. The train follows the river, crossing several bridges that open up wide views of the water and the surrounding hills in their fall color. Then it stops at the Naugatuck Railroad's own pumpkin patch, where passengers get off and choose a pumpkin to take home. Every ticket includes that pumpkin, a dish of pumpkin ice cream from the Nutmeg Fudge Co., and the roughly one-hour ride. Nutmeg Fudge also sets up at Thomaston Station selling local treats and hot dogs, and the train sells fresh-made Connecticut apple cider, Foxen Park soda, water and snacks onboard.
Tickets are sold in tiers. Premium coach seating is $20 for adults and children alike; lounge seating runs $40 for adults and $35 for children. Because these are scheduled departures on a fixed calendar rather than a walk-up attraction, and because the museum notes the ride is especially popular with young kids, booking ahead is the sensible move rather than assuming a seat will be waiting at the platform.
The setting is a large part of the appeal. Thomaston Station, the museum's headquarters, is a restored 1881 structure. A smaller station had gone up in 1851, two years after the Naugatuck Railroad began operating, and it served both passengers and the major industries in town; when the current building replaced it, the older structure was converted into a freight house. The station handled passenger and freight traffic for decades, mostly for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, which leased the Naugatuck in 1887 and bought it in 1906. It had a waiting room, a ticket booth, and a Railway Express Agency office for deliveries.
Then the New Haven declined in the 1950s, and Thomaston Station saw its last passengers in December 1958. The building passed through several small businesses before an arsonist set fire to it in 1993. By luck, the Thomaston Volunteer Fire Department was training nearby when the call came in and put the blaze out quickly, but the fire destroyed the roof and attic and left the interior open to the weather. In the winter of 1995, museum volunteers found ice three feet deep in the former waiting area. A grant from the Thomaston Savings Bank Foundation paid for a new roof in 1997, which stopped the damage and let volunteers begin cleaning and stabilizing the building. The restoration has been a slow, volunteer-driven project ever since.
The railroad itself has a similarly long arc. The original Naugatuck Railroad was chartered in 1845 and opened in 1849 between Bridgeport and Winsted, running alongside the river and serving the communities of the valley. Ownership changed hands repeatedly over the following century, and regular service north of Waterbury ended in 1995. Around the same time, the Railroad Museum of New England, which had spent three decades preserving and restoring New England railroad heritage, was looking for a permanent home and chose Thomaston. The old Naugatuck Railroad name was restored by state charter, and the new Naugatuck Railroad was incorporated on June 7, 1995 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the museum. Its first passenger trains ran in October 1996. Today the railroad operates between Torrington and Waterbury.
The museum behind it is older still. Founded in January 1968 as the Connecticut Valley Railroad Association, the not-for-profit educational and historical organization now counts more than 500 members and holds a collection representative of New England railroading, including locomotives, passenger and freight cars, and cabooses. Its stated mission is to tell the story of the region's railroad heritage through exhibits and through running the Naugatuck Railroad, which means the Pumpkin Patch Express is doing double duty: it is a fall family outing and it is the thing that keeps the museum's trains moving and maintained.
For anyone planning the October 25 trip, the practical details are straightforward. The ride lasts about an hour, the pumpkin and ice cream come with the ticket, and the train leaves from Thomaston Station at 242 East Main Street. The museum advises booking early for these Halloween-season runs, and it is worth checking the ticket calendar on rmne.org before making the drive, since departures are scheduled rather than continuous.