I spent 2 magical nights in a century-old caboose in Nova Scotia, Canada — here’s what it was like

Quick take

As noted above, the Train Station Inn is in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia (Tata for short), less than two hours by car from downtown Halifax — though it’s only about an hour and 20 minutes from Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ).

As you pull off Main Street and make your way down to the inn, the roadside decor makes it clear you’re heading in the right direction.

Daily Newsletter

Rewarding reading in less than 5 minutes

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

The main building occupies the former train station in Tatamagouche, originally built around 1887.

Inside is a quirky gift shop (where you check in and out) along with a casual coffee bar and cafe.

Just outside the station is a patio with several tables and chairs to enjoy alfresco snacks and drinks, but alongside it is the main attraction: a series of rail cars that occupy several hundred feet of tracks.

All 10 rooms at the Train Station Inn are reimagined rail cars — eight of which are cabooses and two of which are boxcars. Most are lined up end to end, running east from the main building, though three of them (Boxcar Jane and Cabooses Nos. 9 and 10) are across the road.

We were booked in Caboose No. 8, the last one on the main line running from the station. A good friend traveling with us had booked Boxcar Jimmie, the lowest-priced room (which technically only occupied half of the car).

It’s worth pointing out that the property is only open for guests roughly half of the year. In 2023, those opening dates were from May 1 through Oct. 7. Rates for each room are fixed and start at just 149.50 Canadian dollars (around $110) per night, with weekend nights carrying a per-night premium of CA$20 (around $14.72). Our two-night stay came in at CA$481.84 (or $363.30 based on exchange rates at the time).

Comfortable, spacious rooms

Caboose No. 8 wound up being the perfect room for our family of three. You “boarded” from the rear, climbing up the car’s original stairs and entering through what would’ve been the back of the caboose.

The door opened into a compact room that occupied roughly a third of the caboose and included a small kitchenette, a dining table for two and a comfortable loveseat.

The kitchenette included a microwave, a minifridge, a sink, a two-burner cooktop and a small coffee maker. We were provided with dishes, glassware, silverware, a small jar of ground coffee and even some minimal cookware.

The coolest aspect of this part of the car was the swiveling conductor’s chair, mounted to the floor next to a small counter that could function as a desk.

As we walked toward the front of the car, the bathroom was off to the right, which was small but perfectly serviceable. The shower was comparable to one on a cruise ship, though families with smaller children would be better off with Caboose No. 4 or Caboose No. 5, both of which feature bathtubs.

At the front of the car was the bedroom with a comfortable queen-size bed, a dresser and another conductor’s chair mounted in the corner. This chair wound up being more decorative than functional, as we never really used it during our stay. However, it was a fun reminder that we were (in fact) sleeping in a train car that used to traverse the country for the Canadian National Railway.

The absolute best part of Caboose No. 8 was the cupola, situated above the bathroom and outfitted with a double mattress. This was our daughter’s room during our stay, and she could barely contain her excitement about climbing the (steep) stairs up there.

Note that the cupola did get quite warm during the heat of the day, though there was a fan installed up there. We also found that opening the windows helped circulate the air, and by the time the sun set at night, it had returned to a manageable temperature.

Our friend’s room (Boxcar Jimmie) was also quite comfortable. It was notably smaller but featured a loft of its own.

Both rooms had wall-mounted air conditioners, and despite high temperatures well into the 80s during our stay, we found that they kept things quite cool. Even though we were sleeping in rail cars, we found adequate power outlets to keep our phones and tablets charged — though travelers with several devices might need to spread them out around the room.

The property offers Wi-Fi with the disclaimer that it only has access points in the cafe and lounge car. We found the service to be intermittent at the end of the line, so if internet access is a must during your stay, go with Boxcar Jimmie or Cabooses Carole, No. 4 or No. 5.

We did receive housekeeping service on Sunday while we were out for the day, which was impressive given the trend we’ve seen to remove daily housekeeping at bigger hotels.

Little touches with big impacts

The accommodations alone were enough for any train lover to geek out over, but the Train Station Inn went even further with its rail-themed elements.

The first was the baggage room bar, which was essentially just a wooden bar set up outside the luggage room of the former train station. It served a variety of drinks from 10 a.m. through midafternoon, and while it wasn’t always staffed, you could press a button to ring for service if an attendant wasn’t immediately available.

There was also the lounge car, situated between the dining car and Caboose No. 5. There was no specific service offered in the car, but it featured nostalgic displays of old-time Canadian railroad items along with comfortable chairs, a collection of games and blasting air conditioning, making it a lovely spot to relax during the heat of the day.

I wasn’t the only one who geeked out over the notion of sleeping in a retrofitted train car parked next to an old train station. Other guests were snapping photos and enjoying the warm summer evening on the platform. In fact, on my way from the station to our caboose, I was stopped by an older couple who weren’t even guests. They were driving through Tatamagouche and were intrigued by the inn, so they drove down the hill to check it out.

(It turns out they were fellow Floridians and read The Points Guy — a small-world interaction made possible by the inn’s unique character.)

The cafe at the inn serves a variety of baked goods and beverages for breakfast, but we opted to eat in our room with some of the leftover food from our Halifax stay. There is also a casual eatery (Platform Kitchen) that serves a limited food menu on the patio on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to accompany live music. Since we arrived on Saturday afternoon and left on Monday morning, we weren’t able to experience those amenities.

One thing we couldn’t miss was a visit to the dining car, which serves daily lunch and dinner. Reservations aren’t required for lunch, but they’re recommended for dinner. In fact, our first night was booked solid when we inquired about a reservation, so we made sure to grab a table for our last night.

And wow, we were glad we did.

Delicious food in a vintage dining car

A great jumping-off point to explore the area

Despite the magnetic pull of the Train Station Inn, it’s also a wonderful jumping-off spot to explore the northernmost part of Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia is wonderful

Beyond our awesome stay at the Train Station Inn, we loved our time in Nova Scotia. This was our first visit to Atlantic Canada, which consists of the four provinces along the water in the eastern part of the country: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. And we don’t expect it to be our last.

Bottom line