CVSR Caboose Rides Return on Saturday

The caboose used by the CVSR is shown at Boston Mill in November 2012.

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will resume offering caboose rides starting Saturday.

The caboose will be attached to the National Park Flyer, which departs Rockside Road station in Independence for a one-and-a-half hour roundtrip excursion.

The Flyer leaves Rockside Road on Saturdays and Sundays at 10 a.m. and noon.

The caboose rides were last offered in early 2019 but were suspended in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Caboose ride tickets at $25 per person. Children under the age of 3 do not need a ticket.

The caboose, which can seat up to 10 peoole, features a functional wood-burning stove and a cupola.

The trips will be offered through May 1. Historically, the caboose has only operated during the winter and spring months.

CVSR Suspends Service to Akron, Peninsula

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad has cancelled its National Park Scenic train through May.

In its place, it will offer a replacement, the National Park Flyer, which will operate on Saturdays and Sundays for one-and-a-half hour trips from Rockside Road station in Independence. The Flyer will not operate to Peninsula or Akron.

The schedule change was prompted by erosion of the bank of the Cuyahoga River north of Boston Mill where the tracks run close to the river for a short stretch.

National Park Service officials said last weekend that erosion from recent rains has reached to within a few feet of the tracks used by the CVSR.

The Park Service owns the track, which passes through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Park officials said it will take weeks to complete work to stabilize the river’s banks where the erosion occurred near the Columbia Run picnic area just north of the Boston Mill ski resort.

In an email message distributed on Tuesday morning, the CVSR said the Cleveland Dinner  & Event Train will continue to operate on Fridays. Also still operating are such theme experiences such as Ales on Rails and caboose rides.

Trains depart from Rockside Road station on Saturdays and Sundays at 10 a.m. and noon. The dinner and event train departs Rockside Road at 6:30 p.m. on Fridays.