The Wabash Frisco and Pacific Railroad Association

What a great way to spend $ 4. If you at all enjoy steam locomotives and model railroads you’ll love this place! Very family friendly and a wonderful way to spend time with your kids.
The steam powered trains are simply amazing and the ride through the woods along the river is beautiful. You don’t have to have kids to enjoy this experience at all. We met a woman who had been coming to ride the trains for 40 years.
What really surprised me was the whole experience is just like a full scale steam train. The sounds the steam, the smell, everything was very authentic.
This experience rivals all the other trains in the area imo.

This place is super cute. It’s very «no frills» but if you have a kiddo who is crazy for trains (like my youngest is) this is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The train line is only open on Sundays (or for private parties booked in advance). It’s $ 4/​per person but kids under 3 are free. We managed to get there right when a train was boarding. They do take cards but it’s so much faster if you just pay cash. There’s a little table of trinkets (hats, patches, bandandas, etc) but other than that it’s just the train. You sit in the tiny trail and it brings you along the Meramec. Train ride lasts about 20 – 30 minutes. It’s a lovely little afternoon trip.

A relaxing way to spend the afternoon with your family. The staff is friendly and they really seem to enjoy what they are doing. It is run by volunteers and they do a great job.
My son loves trains and so do I. We are going to come here often now.
BIG FAN!

The WF&P is an open secret of the best kind. If you ask around, there’s a good chance that unless your social circle includes a lot of very adventurous parents or railroad enthusiasts, you’ll get a blank stare in response to questions about this narrow gauge scenic line.
Yet, when you arrive, the line to board could be several train loads long.
The draw is simple: for about $ 4/​person, you can get up close and personal with a working (though miniature) locomotive (there are several units that pull on the line on any given day including a diesel). The smells of real oil and metal, the sight of a steam blast, the rhythmic pulse of rail and tie, the unmistakeable chugging of an engine getting up to power… these are unique experiences to have at least once.
While it would be a stretch to suggest traveling from St. Louis to check out this small gauge railroad as the sole attraction, as part of a day trip to see either Lone Elk Park or Purina Farms, it’s a worthwhile add-​on.
Notes:
* Come prepared to wait outside without seating. There are some benches and the trees do a good job of offering shade, but it’s best to expect neither of these to be available.
* Credit cards are currently accepted via Square.
* Some of the route highlights include small bridges, stretches alongside the County park’s trail (joggers will often wave hello as the train goes by), an abandoned bridge, a river view through the trees, and the yard and shed where the vehicles rest.
* There are bathrooms on-​site, but other facilities are fairly limited.

Don’t bother. Run by volunteers that don’t care. Can’t call ahead to see if they’re busy or not because the only phone number they have is a prerecorded message. Line was around the block the day we came. Waited hours to ride the train with a hyperactive toddler. Will never come back, we still stick to the saint louis zoo where they have trains every 5 minutes that are cheaper.

Al Foster trail!
I don’t know why I can’t find the Meramec Greenway Trail or the Al Foster Trail on Unilocal,but it is one of my favorites to run in St. Louis. It has beautiful scenery away from the hustle and bustle of town and it is very flat. There are also bike trails as well.
The trail also has the cute pacific railroad for kiddos to ride a mini train with the family — it is really cute!

This place won «Best Kept Secret of 2009» from the Riverfront Times! Just see if you can find it.
If you are tired of the congestion of urban St. Louis or want a short day getaway, this place can be found at the Glencoe trailhead of Saint Louis County Parks. When you get on one of the Wabash Frisco & Pacific Railroad’s tiny twelve-​inch gauge steam locomotives, you’ll chug along under the canopy of the woods and over little bridges at its current location in Wildwood since 1961. Before the west county location, they had operated closer to Lambert-​St. Louis International Airport from 1939 to 1959.
Good luck finding this place with GPS. You might have some luck with Google maps but I sure didn’t. But from word of mouth, researching online on their website (which needs some work), you’ll find a nice hidden place that is both an attraction for the entire family, the couple, the individual, or kids that runs parallel to the Meremac river. You will find a scenic hiking path of the Al Foster trail. Probably adding to the difficulty is the train only runs on Sunday afternoons May through October rain or shine!
Expect small little passenger cars, nice breezes, open air, and a number of railroad engineer enthusiast volunteers in full uniform! Its a cheap treaet for the kids. $ 4 gets you a 30-​minute ride. Snow cones are by the ticket booth.
I have seen a few birthday parties held here too. Parking is ample and more located by the official Glencoe Trailhead. You will hear a few blows of the train whistle at this place.