Halloween on the Rails: Prince George's Pumpkin Express

A museum can be serious about having fun

A railway museum is an especially good place to put Halloween in motion. The Pumpkin Express takes a setting full of wheels, rails and large machines and gives families another reason to look around. A miniature train ride, a pumpkin and a craft can belong to the same afternoon as a first encounter with the equipment that helped shape northern British Columbia.

The museum describes a family Halloween celebration, with costumes welcome. That pairing gives the event its character: children can arrive dressed for make-believe and find themselves surrounded by objects with real, sometimes extraordinary, working lives.

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The little train and the big railway

Tourism Prince George’s 2026 listing advertises free minirail rides. The Cottonwood Railway is the museum’s miniature railway, distinct from both its full-size exhibits and the Little Prince steam railway in Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park. Keeping those names straight makes the outing easier to plan.

There is also an operational detail to check: on October 20, the museum’s general Cottonwood Railway page said temporarily closed, while the event listing promoted rides. Confirm event-day operation with the museum before making the train the one indispensable part of the day. Weather and operating arrangements can matter even when admission is straightforward.

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Look for the machine that had another life

The collection gives the afternoon a second scale. One exhibit is electric locomotive GF6-C 6001, used to haul coal at Tumbler Ridge. The museum identifies it as the survivor of a group of seven. A beehive burner from Les Pas Lumber and other forestry equipment connect the railway setting to the region’s sawmills and logging work.

Pick one exhibit and begin with a plain question: what job did this do? That is often more useful for a child than trying to read every label. A locomotive moved something. A snowplow made movement possible. The size of the machinery becomes meaningful when it is attached to a task.

The museum’s own beginnings fit that idea. A preservation effort formed in 1983 around a wooden snowplow dating to 1903, and the museum opened in July 1986. Saving a working object grew into saving a wider industrial story. Halloween visitors become part of the museum’s present-day life, even if the pumpkin is what brought them through the gate.

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The pumpkin has a community behind it

The operator’s event page names support for pumpkins, transport, crafts, the minirail and the Storywalk. A previous Rotary account records help buying 250 pumpkins for the event. That number belongs to the earlier account, not this year’s supply, but it shows how something as simple as a pumpkin patch can depend on several groups.

This is one reason to bring a non-perishable food donation if you can, as the event information requests. A family outing can support more than the day’s entertainment. The volunteer work and donated supplies are part of how a museum keeps welcoming people who may not otherwise have planned a visit.

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The current plan in one place

As checked October 20, 2026, Tourism Prince George lists Pumpkin Express for October 24 and 25, from 11 am to 4 pm, at 850 River Road in Prince George. Pumpkins are offered only while supplies last. Check the museum’s latest notice for operating rides, final activities and admission arrangements; published descriptions differ between free admission with a food donation request and admission by donation.

Plan an outdoor October afternoon, with clothing that still works if the family pauses for a ride or an exhibit. Choose a few things everyone wants to do, and leave some room to wander among the displays.

Then leave a little time for one machine that was not on the plan. The best surprise may be discovering what it once did. The pumpkin goes home, but that piece of the region’s history can come along too.

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