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Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

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Moment: Romance on the rails

romance-on-the-rails
romance-on-the-rails romance-on-the-rails
photo Kenny Pittman and Stephanie Williams ride the Valentine’s Dinner Train hosted by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Pittman and Williams have been dating for three years and traveled from Hendersonville, Tenn., to ride the train.

Conversations fill Grand Junction Station as more than 50 passengers wait to board the Valentine’s Dinner Train. As the train pulls away, the day’s fading sunlight fills the dining car as servers dressed in white shirts and black bow ties take travelers’ orders.

Hendersonville, Tenn., residents Kenny Pittman and Stephanie Williams, neither of whom had been on a train before, drove nearly three hours for the two-hour dinner ride.

“It’s really nice and romantic,” Williams said. “I can’t stop smiling.”

Riders are served a full meal, cooked in the dining car’s fully functional kitchen.

“[The food] is so good. There’s something about the glaze on the chicken,” Williams said. “I’ve got to figure out how to make it.”