A young girl gathers Easter eggs at an egg hunt while attending the Easter Egg Express at the Texas State Railroad in Palestine on Saturday.

PALESTINE – The Easter Bunny arrived at the Texas State Railroad in Palestine on Saturday for a train ride and Easter inspired activities with children.

Over 900 tickets were sold for the fun-filled, hour-long train ride which offered three departure times.

The train ride was jam-packed with sweet treats, dancing and a visit from the famous big bunny.

At the depot, music filled the air and colorful Easter eggs were scattered across Easter Egg Park for an egg hunt. Children waiting to board the train or wanting to hang out after the ride could also enjoy a hayride or jump around in the bounce houses.

Texas State Railroad Commercial Director Amy Parady said the experience was a unique one.

“Our Easter Egg Express Excursion Train and Event gives people of all ages an opportunity to come and visit the Railroad Depot and learn about the history of the Texas State Railroad. They get the experience of getting to ride a train in our refurbished coach cars from the 1920s era and participate in modern day Easter related activities such as our Easter egg hunt all wrapped up in one event,” Parady said. “We are proud to provide a different experience for folks surrounding the holiday theme.”

Parady said COVID-19 had a major impact on the railroad in 2020 and they were extremely glad to be back up and running at full capacity, not just for families but for the community as well.

“Between all our excursions, our ridership this year, to date, represents over 430 different cities and 26 states. We have people come from all over for this event as well as our other excursion events,” Parady said. “This creates commerce for our local communities in the form of hotels, restaurants, convenience stores, campgrounds and traffic for other local attractions.”

Parady said 2021 is shaping up to be a great year.

“Our 2021 season began on March 13 and we have had tremendous turn-out,” she said.

For more information or to book an excursion, visit www.texasstaterailroad.net or call 1-855-632-7729.