Weekend Guide: Ride the Pumpkin Express in Campo
Looking for a Halloween outing that runs on rails? This weekend, the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum’s Pumpkin Express returns to Campo.
Trains depart Campo Depot (750 Depot St., Campo, CA) on Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 10:30am, 1:00pm, and 2:30pm (with one more date on Saturday, October 31). Passengers ride decorated vintage railcars through the San Diego County backcountry, return to a pumpkin patch and Halloween scenes set among the museum’s historic rail cars, and every child ticket includes a pumpkin. Costumes are encouraged, and seating runs from classic 1920s coach cars to First Class aboard the Santa Fe lounge car #1509.
Tickets and full details: Pacific Southwest Railway Museum — Pumpkin Express
You’re riding the “Impossible Railroad”
The best part of the trip is the railroad itself. The Pumpkin Express runs on a surviving piece of the San Diego and Arizona Railway — the line engineers of the day called the “Impossible Railroad.” Financed by John D. Spreckels at a cost of about $18 million, the SD&A took twelve years to build: 21 tunnels and some 2.5 miles of bridges and trestles, including 11 brutal miles through Carrizo Gorge, where the cliffs drop more than 1,000 feet. Spreckels drove the final golden spike on November 15, 1919, giving San Diego its own direct rail link east.
More than a century later, the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum keeps that history alive at Campo — and a fall ride behind vintage equipment is one of the easiest ways to experience it.
If you go: Campo is in eastern San Diego County, so plan the drive, arrive early for your departure, and check ticket availability with the museum before heading out — these trains can sell out.
Western Rail Archive documents Southern California railroad history and preservation. Event details via the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum (psrm.org).
