So we have wanted to ride the steam train for a while. We thought it would be interesting to check out the one with the steam punk theme cuz why not see steam punk on what else, a steam train! I have no problem supporting a non-profit, but I do not appreciate being duped at all. Tickets aren't cheap; these are amusement park prices. The advertised 3hr ride was max 2.5hrs from when we got out of our car to getting back in our car. The only thing steam punk was the announcer saying the trip name. I feel bad for the two passengers actually dressed in steam punk gear. It was an ok scenic route of the hill country which we have very much appreciated already by doing things like the Hill Country Marathon event. We got to get off for like 10min at Bertram Depot and then on and back home. Sooo now what did we just pay for?? We weren't even on a steam train. In the end, I wish we took a different tour to enjoy the ride to the bluebonnet festival, a murder mystery one, gun fighting, or something else. Instead of what we thought would be steam punk theme, we took an overpriced general train ride. We could have just paid $5 and took the Metro. Completely disappointed and we have no interest in even trying out the other tours, just in case what we end up getting a picture of a gun fight instead of what's actually advertised... although that would still be more than what we got on our trip! read more

We had a great time today on North Pole Flier. The people working the train and accommodations were awesome! Came by our section numerous times asking if we needed anything. Waited two years to ride because it gets booked up quick. Well worth the wait . read more

Okay so the Hubby surprised me with tix for Mother's Day and we took our 9 yr old. We ate a light breakfast at home looking forward to a nice lunch downtown Austin during the train ride. The seats were comfortable, the crew of volunteers were all very courteous, but the bathroom stall was a struggle. Tight. Very tight and yes it was the only stall. The train and bathroom could have been cleaner but weren't gross. They offered toddler sized water bottles and cutie oranges and apples. The downtown stop was at Saltillo Plaza on a Sunday. Why?! It's filthy, smells like pee and it's in the middle of the East side bar area. Everyone tried to walk a block or two over only to find closed bars, dirty streets and full dumpsters that smelled. At the plaza the vendors were a joke. No place to sit, and very few to take cover from the rain. The only save was that the conductor picked us back up 20 minutes early. Probably because we were all huddled standing in puddles watching & waiting for the train to come back to take us home! Some day, we will laugh about the trip but it was a disappointment at best. As for the train ride and view, it goes from treed country side to over populated unrecognizable Austin with its skeletons of unfinished condos ridiculously being thrown up all at once. It was sad and looked like a war zone. The Austin I once knew is gone forever and all the ways that made it such a unique and joyous wonder have now been replaced by greed. Goodbye & thanks for the memories. read more

Please don't believe the hype. Our train ride was a wreck from beginning to end. We booked four tickets for a particular train & they cancelled & rebooked our seating so that they could schedule 30 people to sit together. They had our phone number as well as our e-mail address that they could have used to call us and see if we would mind sitting in a different car that we had made arrangements for. The saddest part about this, is that they did not even apologize for the confusion. We purchased four tickets & were suppose to be sitting together, but unfortunately we weren't, we were seated across the isle from one another two people on one side of the isle & two people on the other side of the isle. We paid $85.00 per person & it wasn't worth the time of day. This company have no business ethics. read more

Very disappointed. Train was 20 min late. It took forever to get out and gain speed. And it didn't get any better when the AC broke. They were not able to fix it and we had to drive back in 100 degrees with no air. Slow movement during the last half of the ride didn't help either. At this weather I would expect at least fans, bus back offer or money back. Nothing. read more

My husband and I took the Hill Country Flyer, which was a 6 hour round trip to Burnett (2 hours to there, 2 hours in the town and 2 hours back to Cedar Park.) The view was nothing spectacular, or too different then riding in the car, but the ride, itself, was very relaxing. The conductor and staff was nice, and even took the time to change the directions of some passengers' seats so they could face the other direction. Free mini bottles of water and fruit onboard. However, on our way back we were told the generator went out on our car and we had no A/C. Since windows does not open, we were given option to walk through the car behind us. Ride was a little unpleasant but bearable. Tried to look at the situation as getting the full effect of how the train cars used to be. Overall it was a nice relaxing trip. read more

We have rode the train a few different times, and it is hit or miss. Sometimes you get a great seat with a killer view, and outstanding volunteers. Other times you are stuck in a closet with a tiny port hole and the attendant forgets your section completely. Definitely don't waste your time at night, the solar film on the windows reflects the light from the inside and you can't see anything on the outside. Kids will really enjoy the polar express themed rides, the parents will probably wish it was over sooner. . . read more

Disappointed for sure, there was nothing worth $120 per couple. The AC was out so it was like being in an oven and most of the time you couldn't see 20 ft out of the window. We ended up buying a deck a cards in Burnet so we would have something to do on the way back to Cedar Park. For all that are LTC, they have 30.06/30.07 posted. read more

very over priced not worth it. Had mechanical problems. murder mystery not impressed at all. spend your hard earned money somewhere else.

Never again. Thank goodness for the groupon deal....two tickets for $25.00. Pros: seats on comfortable, air conditioned cart, big windows, consession stand available for snacks, you can bring your own sandwiches and goodies for the kids. CONS: The view is just trees some land, dry lake, and A few houses. If your expecting mountains with the view of a sunset you will be disappointed. kids are easily bored they don't stay entertained because there is not much to see but a bunch of trees. So I would recommend that you bring some toys, books or coloring books for them. Kids don't want to stay in the seats, all you hear is cranky cries because they want to get out of the seat. The stop at Burnett road was nothing to see but a library and a gas station. I guess that's why most people didn't even bother to get off the train. Literally nothing else but a dead town with no places to eat. Plus they only give you 15 minutes to return to train, enough time to stretch your legs. Then you head back to cedar park to watch the same old trees and smell body odor because they turn of the air conditioner on your ride back. Will not do this again and will not bring my kid here. read more

Austin Steam Train association. THANKSGIVING RUINED FOR 90 YEAR OLD GRANDMOTHER My mother is 90 years old, and has some physical limitations making it difficult to plan excursions. I thought the Train during thanksgiving would be a special treat. It is only two hours. I carefully ordered the tickets, with a handicap seat for my mother, weeks ago. I was called the day before Thanksgiving by the train company, and was told that I had ordered three books about trains for Thanksgiving weekend, and my seats were scheduled for the following weekend. I did not even know the books existed, and I am sure I did not order them. However, they stated it was MY mistake, and they offered no refunds or exchanges. Trying to contact them results in a long hold time, culminating with a prompt to leave my number for a call back or the call would be disconnected. It took them 4 hours to call me back. STAY AWAY FROM THE WEBSITE unless you want your special plans to be RUINED read more

This was pretty terrible. Unless you like sitting and looking out the window at trees for 3 hours, do NOT pay money for this. I'm shocked that so many people waste money on this very overrated excursion. Maybe if there was an actual destination or some sort of redeeming attribute. But nothing. Horrible waste of time. read more

This was an amazing experience! The scenery was gorgeous! When they dropped you off at Bertram for the shopping and eating... It was the best. The staff was very friendly. I had rescheduled 5 times due to unseen circumstances and each time they were friendly. I would highly recommend. read more

I took my husband on the Bertram Flyer trip for our anniversary this weekend and was very disappointed. The train crawls along at a snails pace for an hour and a half and the "beautiful Texas hill country" sites you see along the way are the backs of peoples houses, with trash in the ditches and broken down old cars. Then after a fifteen minute stop at the train station in Bertram (which is really just a shack on the side of the tracks) you begin the crawl back to Cedar Park. I will admit the volunteers are very knowledgeable and friendly and should be commended for dedicating their free time to the train. I would not, however, recommend this trip. read more

I've ridden this train three times over the last 15 years or so, each time with a different family member who was a kid at the time (two still are). This latest time was with my son, who is four. He loved it. I enjoyed it, as did the rest of our group. It's a diesel for the moment, as the steam engine is under repair (this is a big thing for people like my son, not a minor detail). Still, he loved it. The station area is very developed now (it was a tiny stand in the middle of an open field the last two times I rode it). So there's lots of parking and it's two minutes from Torchy's Tacos (yay). Anyway, many fond memories, including some new ones, of Austin steam train. I met Ben Sergeant (cartoonist) the second time I rode--he was a volunteer and I got a signed print as a door prize. Sweet. If you love trains, or even like them, this is worth the price. It's too bad Burnet doesn't have much to walk to, and the local restaurants make it worse by sending buses right to the train station to pick people up (can't anyone walk anymore?) Anyway, it's great, ride the train. read more

If you are planning to do the train ride to the North Pole to see Santa with the Austin steam train association. DONT! It was definitely not worth our time and money. The Santa couldn't even say hello to our kids let alone look at them. Really sad that your kids have been looking forward to seeing him all day and then can't even look at camera for a picture. Supposed to sing songs and read stories. They did one of each. Very disappointing. read more

This was a total waste of my money! Will never go again. Saw a few trees and everyone's backyards & houses. Burnet was horrible! Was expecting a lot more. We ate lunch at the Highlander buffet... it was terrible. read more

We took the train ride for my friend Stefanie for her Birthday. It was a gift from another friend. It was relaxing, but if you are in a hurry, it's not for you. It gave me a chance to reflect and also gave us a chance to hold a conversation without feeling rushed. read more

I haven't been able to experience Austin Steam Train Assoc. because of the difficulty making a reservation. I called and someone did call back; however, they put me on hold and then transferred the line and it just rang so I eventually hung up. Their website/booking system needs a MAJOR update. read more

We sat for over an hour, not moving and no one telling us what was happening. Very long time between actors coming through. Would definitely not recommend this trip. Very disappointed. read more

Well we are on the train . Our anniversary hubby paid 50 dollars a seat supposed to be nicest on the train. Yes we have a room all our own 5 ft by 7 feet. 2 1950s dining room chairs and a table. We even had to trade chairs with an empty room to get ones that had any padding at all. The coach cars have padded bus seats and we pay twice the fare and get dining room chairs. Not a good start. read more

It was okay.The staff was very friendly. The food on the train was great and reasonable. The scenery was not what we expected - houses and fields of beef cattle. Not much of a town - Burnet cause they just want you to spend your money. The food at the cafeteria was TERRIBLE! My mom and I thought the brisket was tough and fatty. The cherry dessert was mushy and the green beans were cold. Not much seating available for the shoot out - they need to put up more bleachers for the elderly. The play was okay. read more

We thoroughly enjoyed our ASTA ride on the Burnett Fair day. The volunteers and employees were wonderful, providing information and entertainment along the relaxing route. We also enjoyed the "child free" car- an added perk for those who prefer an adults-only environment. Burnett and the fair were charming, with several nice cafes. (I spotted several antique shops that would merit a second visit.) read more

HUGE RIPOFF! Don't waste your money!!!Wife and I took the kids on the "polar express" train ride. For $200 we were expecting an intimate, high quality ride and performance. Far from it. Crammed in a cart with a bunch of loud mouths (one table was eating McDonald's). Lights in the cart were so bright you literally could not see outside the windows unless you cupped your hands and smashed your face against it. Attendant looked at me like I was crazy when I asked them to dim the lights. It was so bright the windows were literally just mirrors. Hot chocolate was just powder mixed with boiling water. Candy canes from a big jug from Costco. And individual cookies wrapped in HEB packaging (although they actually tasted good). "Performers" are probably being paid minimum wage. One of them loudly exclaimed to the whole group that a kids balloon (which was an airplane) looked like a flying wiener (it did but good grief the cart was filled with children) LOL. To finish it all off the lights flickered repeatedly on the way back as the train lost power. Until finally the train actually died on the track a short distance from the station. Thank God. I would've drop kicked the windows out to escape otherwise. Oh yea the bathroom is in a utility closet and was so disgusting. The whole experience was like being in a bad prank. It only got worse and worse. My wife and I were delirious after 2 hours on this train of horrors. You've been warned! read more

Took the family on the North Pole Express, featuring seasonal activities (photo with and gift from Santa; cookie from Mrs Claus, balloon animals, story time, carols, hot chocolate. We had reserved seats for the five of us, one adult had infant on lap. Car was decorated for Christmas and the attendants did a nice job entertaining us - especially the ballon animal elf. I was asked to vacate my seat so Santa could take advantage of the adjacent one for photos - this was a bit of an inconvenience as I had to stand in the aisle and keep moving around for 20 minutes. But the real disappointment was having to share our space with two very poorly behaved children and their mother, who appeared unable to control them. The baby spent most of the trip screaming and her older brother pushed and hit other children and snatched their toys away. Final straws were the scenery - not much beautiful Hill Country, a lot of trashy back yards and strip mall development; and worst of all, the train was diesel not steam! Why are we supporting the Austin Steam Association if they are running diesel trains?! We were expecting a different experience, all around. read more

My friend and I went our first train experience last week. We bought tickets for the Mimosas and Moonlight. Needless to say, we were quite disappointed and I'm surprised there are more comments about the trip since so many around us were just as disappointed. There was one waitress serving each car trying to make individual mimosas for all of us. There was a four drink max, which we were fine with, but the cups were so small we were ready for another, and the poor waitress was only two seats away from us. She kept having to retrace her steps to get more champagne which held her up even more. We had people coming from other cars to get a drink because they were waiting so long. The appetizers were tasty, but took forever to be passed out. The group across from us asked to have two meatballs, but were told we were limited to one. It took over thirty minutes before receiving anything else. We were supposed to have music...there was one guy playing for the entire train!! He was in our car when we first got on, and then we didn't see him again until it was time to get off. Thank goodness for that group, because they kept the us entertained by putting music on their phone. There were only two good points...the food was tasty what little we got, and Anna, the waitress, was friendly (we really felt sorry for her). The trip was NOT worth the $60!! Some suggestions would be to have the first drinks prepared ahead as passengers got on...if you can't pour the champagne, at least pour the juice part of it. This way passengers can have their first drink as the train takes off. The catering company needs to set up stations on each car...that was just really ridiculous. I'm not sure if I will try another experience, I could have found a better way to spend $63.00 (service charge of $3). read more

The Valentines day wine train is a SCAM! my wife and I went on last years valentines day wine train and it was a wonderful experience the service was good, the wine pours were very generous and the tastings were very well paired. Given our experience we signed up to go on their last wine train WHAT A 180 degree change nearly everything sucked in fact the waiter who waited on us the first time was our waiter on the second train when we asked about all the changes he could only tell us that he was directed by the host of the event which was Pilot Knob winery and was told if you take care of the customers that he would get fired. When asked for more wine from a 1 oz pour we were told no when on the first trip we had a whole glass of wine. The food pairing were also very pared down with 1 grape versus a platter of grapes the first wine train, again when asked for add'l food we were told there was none. Lastly when I asked to see the owners of Pilot Knob he didn't show up .... an indication he knew what he was doing.... ripping people off of hard earned $$. Please heed the warning and don't get taken. read more

this was the worst experience and a complete waste of our money! the ride was miserably slow with many stops and the engineer going forward and backward. the toilets were covered with flies and smelled worse than outhouses. the train was dirty and the "food" was nothing more than mini waters and bite size muffins bought at the local grocery store. they also had granola bars with peanuts but given that our son is deathly allergic to peanuts we sat in fear the majority if the time. you could if course pay an arm and a leg for a soda or something more appealing. the scenery they boast about is filled with starving horses ad dilapidated housing in the poorest parts of Texas. I would never encourage anyone to ride this! read more

I wanted to write this review after taking a trip on the Hill Country Flyer excursion today because reading previous yelp reviews was making me panic. We had a very fun time with our 2.5 year old! We sat on the Silverpine- comfy seats, great A/C. The volunteers were very informative, the view was as expected (it's the hill country, not Alaska, people), the snack bar was priced well at $1 for everything, and they had a good selection at the gift shop for kids. Two hours went by quickly and smoothly. Burnet was a cute town. We had the perfect amount of time (2 hrs) to eat at Tealicious (good food!), visit two antique shops, stop by the Cookie bakery, and watch the gun show. We lucked out with an air show going on, and my son preferred to watch that rather than the gun fight. We re-boarded the train, visited all the cars to check them out, got back to our seats, and were on our way home! Little man slept the whole way back. If you have a child/children who love trains, they will have a blast! Just wanted to write this review so other parents or kids don't start panicking after purchasing tickets and reading other reviews. Worth it to us! read more