Red Caboose Motel & Restaurant in Ronks, PA

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Telephone:	+1 717-687-5000
Website:	www.redcaboosemotel.com
Address:	312 Paradise Ln, Ronks, PA, 17572
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:	0.6 miStrasburg Rail Road 1.3 miCherry Crest Adventure Farm 1.4 miGroff's Grove
Categories:	Salad Italian Sandwiches

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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations	Yes
Delivery	No
Take-out	No
Accepts Credit Cards	Yes
Accepts Apple Pay	No
Accepts Bitcoin	No
Good For	Breakfast
Parking	Private Lot
Bike Parking	Yes
Wheelchair Accessible	No
Good for Kids	Yes

Good for Groups	Yes
Attire	Casual
Ambience	Divey
Noise Level	Loud
Alcohol	No
Outdoor Seating	No
Wi-Fi	Free
Has TV	Yes
Dogs Allowed	No
Waiter Service	Yes
Caters	No

Today

Today	7:00 am – 9:00 pm Closed now
Local time (Ronks)	3:29 AM Saturday, June 21, 2025

Business hours

Monday	7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday	7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday	7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday	7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday	7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday	7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday	7:00 am – 9:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Sleep in a caboose! We specialize in a unique travel experience in the middle of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Sleep in a caboose, dine in an authentic Pennsylvania Railroad Dining Car and much more right next door to the Strasburg Rail Road and National Toy Train Museum. Ideal for Youngsters and the Young at Heart.

History

Established in 1970.

It all started with a dare: Don Denlinger, founder and president of Mill-Bridge Craft Village, bid on 19 N-5 cabooses, and one snowy January day in 1970, received a phone call saying he had won the bid. And the rest, as they say, is history!

Today, the 9-acre property boasts 40 caboose and railroad cars, a farmhouse with suites, dining car, gift shop, petting zoo, Amish buggy rides and much, much more, including an incredible view of Pennsylvania Dutch Country and a front row seat of the Strasburg Railroad.

Meet the Business Owner

Tyler P.

Business Owner

Under NEW Ownership!

As of February 1, 2016, Father and Son team Todd and Tyler Prickett bring their love of history, trains and making your visit one you’ll never forget to The Red Caboose Motel & Restaurant.

Renovations, new additions and updates are under way and we reopened on March 4, 2016. Book now and experience sleeping in a caboose! We think Don Denlinger would approve.

Red Caboose Motel & Restaurant also recommends

Dutch Wonderland Family Amusement Park

126

reviews

Amusement Parks

Tyler P. says,

«A „Kingdom for Kids.“»

Sight & Sound Theatres

65

reviews

Performing Arts

Tyler P. says,

«Where the Bible comes to life!»

National Toy Train Museum

5

reviews

Museums

Tyler P. says,

«Literally right next door!»

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

41

reviews

Landmarks & Historical Buildings

Tyler P. says,

«A great rainy day activity!»

Strasburg Rail Road

80

reviews

Tours

,

Trains

Tyler P. says,

«Viewable from our property!»

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20 reviews of Red Caboose Motel & Restaurant

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Mary Ann S.

Place rating: 1
Millstone, NJ

We went to the restaurant with our 2 year old grandson after visiting Day out with Thomas. The service was horrendous. It took well over an hour for our lunch. Unacceptable for a family restaurant. Thank goodness the little guy was in a good mood and well behaved. When the food finally did arrive it was mediocre at best. Hamburger ordered medium well was medium rare. Ham and cheese sandwich with sliced apples was sloppy mess with mushy apples. Server blamed the wait on the fries. (Don’t know why it takes an hour to make fries!). But the fries weren’t even hot. The view of the trains going by is great, but doesn’t make up for the lousy food and service.

Annabelle S.

Place rating: 3
Philadelphia, PA

It s a really fun stop for families but the food and service is not really good. I would anyway recommend to go there for the trains and little shop.

Michael D.

Place rating: 3
Paradise, PA

The place is under new management and considerably have a tough job. But overall it’s a great place for the kids if nothing else. Todd one of the new owners is very friendly and approachable, he is also determined to make it better than what it was. I will say don’t be like other people (being me as one of them) and criticize everything without giving the right people a chance to fix what is wrong. Something we all deserve. My family has had many great memories there and only hope we are invited back again.
If nothing else experience once for your kids.
Just don’t eat at the restaurant.

Crystal Z.

Place rating: 1
Ronks, PA

Food is ok. The service is terrible. We waited more than an hour for our food to come. The waitress did not say sorry at all. After waited for 45 minutes, we asked when the food will come. She said it will be another 5 minutes. «If you can’t wait, I am fine.» We can’t wait? The table arriving after us already finished their meal and we still don’t have our food. Finally, the food come. We don’t have utensil. She never brought us utensil or check if we still have water.

Richard H.

Place rating: 4
Columbus, MS

Prompt, friendly service, good food, spotless restaurant, and nice modern clean bathrooms. We were well pleased with our lunch visit today and would not hesitate to eat here again. Nice handy location too if you are visiting the railroad museum and steam train ride.

Megan K.

Place rating: 3
Brooklyn, NY

We did not stay at the motel — stopped for a meal, gander, and walk around the property only while passing through. What can I say? My husband likes trains, a surprising number of entrepreneurs like to execute train-themed restaurants, and I like arranging for us to visit them.
Had breakfast; it was fine. I couldn’t quite order the meal I wanted from the menu, so discussed possibly ordering various sides with the server. It was her first day! She was wonderful, especially with all the random questions we had about the property. I decided to just order from the breakfast menu, as did my husband. We liked it just fine. No better but certainly no worse than any small town family-owned restaurant, and the coffee was really, really good.
I wish that it wasn’t miserably got outside. The big wooden outdoor chairs on the porch were comfortable regardless. The petting zoo was fine, gift shop is available. We enjoyed the theme-y music.
The women’s bathroom has a really bad smell to it but seems updated. Not sure what that’s about.

Don V.

Place rating: 3
Lewes, DE

Read all the reviews on here before we stopped in! So naturally we were a little unsure. I’ve always wanted to stay here but was a little uneasy. Asked to see the rooms available and the young lady at the desk understood. She obliged and we chose the mail car! I will post a pic. It was a little updated but you aren’t staying at the Ritz it’s a mail car.
It was clean and other than a half used shampoo all else seemed fine.
We ate on the restaurant on property and it was fair. My partner had the burger which he enjoyed and I had the open faced turkey sandwich. It was not fresh turkey but deli meat… the toast was so hard it could have stopped a train.
The staff were all friendly. Checked out the petting zoo just for kicks. I can check this off my list now!
Tyler,
I didn’t only because I got the impression a. It wouldn’t have mattered b. The reception wouldn’t have been the best. We were the only diners in the car.
Let me say this tho. By all means the meal didn’t over shadow the experience. It was still
Interesting and novel. It stirred up lots of convo on social media when I posted pics on FB. I had lots of friends curious about the place. I’d def recommend your place to others.
Your motel staff was very warm and friendly. Including the young lady who was there at check out Monday morning.

Taras H.

Place rating: 2
Chicago, IL

I thought it would be cool to stay in a caboose. Well, that was cool, except the place is (mostly) a dump.
First the positive:
The lobby area is very nice. The public restrooms near the front are even modern and spotless — the men’s restroom even smelled nice! Excellent first impression.
Enter the caboose:
It’s a caboose, so I’m not expecting the Ritz here. But what I am expecting is clean, warm accommodations. The carpet is dirty, and the bathroom is moldy. Also, it’s around freezing outside and it’s cold inside. It’s a metal caboose with no insulation. Sure, there is an electric heating system (which is quite loud by the way) but it was still always chilly — turned all the way up it just couldn’t keep up with the heat loss in the uninsulated caboose. The floor was especially cold because it doesn’t sit on the ground — there is air (the bottom of the caboose) underneath the floor and this makes it very cold. The sheets also seemed a bit dirty and we were only provided a single bar of soap for both the sink and shower. It’s ironic that we also found a tip envelope there for the housekeeping staff but why would I tip for a dirty room that doesn’t even have required amenities?

Gary H.

Place rating: 5
Silver Spring, MD

Being a well traveled person, I was relucdent to try this place, i do understand that they are now under new ownership and management. The folks that do the reservations and front desk are very friedly and helpfull, check in can not be more simple and our room was ready for an early check in. The grounds were layed out nice and clean with many friendly people walking around should you need help. Buggy rife tours are available right on the premise. The rooms are much bigger and roomier than I imagined, they are very modern, well layed out and VERY CLEAN! I did miss and mention to the staff that Id like to see individual coffee pots in each room as there were none.
There is a restaurant train car which is alot of fun, the food was very good and the waitress’s are outstanding, I recommend Sasha.
There is not much to do on the hotel premises other than a small train museum, a very small peting zoo and the horse and buggies so i recommend you plan activities in town.
Do it, make the trip and stay here if you want something different.

Rosie M.

Place rating: 1
FOREST HILLS, NY

Omg. Never. Never. Never. Please DO NOT STAY HERE!!! It’s sooo dirty. They don’t change the bed covers and there was hair on the pillows and covers. It’s such a dirty hotel !! I was up all night and couldn’t wait until until 7 am so that we can get out of here. Dirty rooms and molds all over !!! Nasty nasty !!!

Kim B.

Place rating: 4
Wilmington, DE

The place is a neat idea. It is need of a little updating. The staff is extraordinarily friendly, enthusiastic and seem to love this place. They have a little park and petting zoo… the game room was a bust (most of the machines were out of order — we were told they would be re-doing the room for the next season– so we’ll check it out next time). Overall I honestly think it’s a little pricey for what it is, but if you like novelty themes and have little kids into trains, it can be a lot of fun. We certainly did.
–Kim

Jerry P.

Place rating: 1
Catonsville, MD

I so wanted this place to be «cool», to be a heaven for train lovers. The Strasburg Railroad runs right alongside the property, you can walk to the Toy Train Museum behind the property, and the Amish attractions surrounding it, LITERALLY surrounding it, are genuine. I am a geeky railran, a foamer’s foamer. But all I can say about this place is: EITHER buy it, and be prepared to dump at least $ 500K into room renovations, OR, run away FAST, do NOT STAY HERE, even if you love trains, you will HATE YOURSELF if you spend one night. If you make the mistake of staying here, with your spouse, be prepared to be in the proverbial «Dog House» for a long, long, long, time. Filthy, unkept, so «beyond-dated». GREAT idea, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, EXECUTION! I

Lauren K.

Place rating: 1
Germantown, MD

After a trip to the Strasburg Railroad, we stopped here for lunch with our toddler. First of all, it looks like a dump. We should have just turned around, but we decided to give the place a chance since other reviews said kids loved it.
The downhill trend continued when we were seated. I asked to move further back in the caboose to get away from a screaming infant. The waitress acted like I asked for her first born, I was that unreasonable.
It was still dirty inside. I didn’t want my daughter to touch anything. Then… We got our food. Flavorless mush. And the waitress continued to be rude. The other waitress seemed much nicer, but either way, we won’t be back.

Stephanie L.

Place rating: 2
Hackettstown, NJ

Cool experience but not good food. And the staff was just ok. Very scenic though and fun for kids. But it was hard to get our son off the rides!

Jamie E.

Place rating: 1
Baltimore, MD

My family of 3 recently stayed at the Red Caboose, thinking it would be a fun alternative to a traditional hotel.
It was TERRIBLE.
Cons.: Dirty (mold in shower, disgusting carpet, questionable sheets), smelly, mosquitoes and spiders inside of caboose, the most uncomfortable beds. Odd layouts, lack of towels. Extremely loud ac unit.
I would not recommend staying here to anyone. It’s not worth the ‘experience’ and DEFINITELY not worth the money. Enjoy a train ride in Strasburg and stay in an actual hotel.

Frank K.

Place rating: 3
Lancaster, PA

The food isn’t the greatest but its great for kids. Eat on a real train. There is also a nice gift shop and petting zoo.

Eric E.

Place rating: 1
Nottingham, MD

Stayed in train #27 and it was one of the worst nights of my life. The double and bunk beds are unbearable to sleep in and the shower looks like it was stolen from a abandon motel. They told us it was recently renovated but obviously they were taking about a different motel. Cool concept but no place for family to gather and completely outdated. Your better off sleeping in the cornfield up the street. Paid $ 160 a night.

Bruce S.

Place rating: 4
Bally, PA

I wanted to write a quick note on this place in saying that this was a fun restaurant to eat at. The car makes pretend train noises and motions periodically and the kids really love it!
We had breakfast and it was very good — bacon crispy, eggs done just right and the pancakes were yummy!
The hotel was less yummy, old and outdated — the wind came right through the walls and you could hear everything that went on around you. BUT — you don’t stay here for the posh décor, you stay here because it is cool. And it is – we will return!

Beth F.

Place rating: 5
Cincinnati, OH

I am really surprised by the low reviews here. My boyfriend and I just wend in October for our anniversary and absolutely loved this place. The prices were lower than many of the other hotels in the area, and you get to sleep ON A TRAIN CAR!!! We picked the smallest car to save money, and because we knew that we wouldn’t be there a ton. We had a huge itinerary of things to cram into a few days, and we were determined to do it all.
Keep in mind, this is a MOTEL. You are not coming here for a luxurious experience, you are coming here for the novelty. Maybe my boyfriend and I are just kids at heart still and that’s why we loved it so much, but I’d gladly go back many times.
When we arrived, it was such a cool experience. We pulled in, and there are several sized and multiple colors of train cars throughout the property. It made for some really neat pictures. There is a farm house that looks really nice, and had some hot tub rooms from what I read. Next to that is a petting zoo, and a play area for the kids. We didn’t eat at the restaurant because we had so many other places we wanted to try, and that was my only complaint. The restaurant seemed to have odd hours, so on our checkout day we wanted to try it, but it wasn’t open.
The area is cool as well because there are so many things nearby. We actually didn’t have enough time to try the local places, like the train ride, the Amish Farm, or the amusement park. Both Gettysburg and Hershey are in very close proximity, and if you like shopping there were a ton of outlet malls on the main strip. I loved it, and like I said above, we would definitely go back.

Frank A.

Place rating: 4
Lancaster, PA

My little nephew is crazy about trains.
After visiting the chocho barn we decide to stop by and hit the lunch mane at the restaurant. He loved the atmosphere of using a train cabin as a restaurant. The staff was very nice and the food delicious. The prices were decent. We then headed to the gift shop and founded some interesting toys.
There is a petting zoo with small horses and other animals to feed and a small but entertaining playground. The interesting part was to see the strasgburg train pass by
It was great for pictures.
If it wasn’t because i am local i would definitely pass the idea of staying overnight in their cozy train room.

Red Caboose Motel & Restaurant

Ronks, United States