(The following story by Josh McAuliffe appeared on the Times-Tribune website on August 26, 2010.)
SCRANTON, Pa. — Steamtown National Historic Site will be a bountiful train lover’s paradise Labor Day weekend when the National Park Service hosts its fourth annual Railfest.
This year’s event, set for Saturday, Sept. 4, and Sunday, Sept. 5, will feature everything from excursions to demonstrations to live music. The theme is “Passenger Rail – Past and Present.”
“You’d think it’d mostly be rail enthusiasts. But the majority of the visitors (last year) were families,” said Mark Brennan, Steamtown’s chief of visitor services and public affairs.
Among those set to have equipment displays at Railfest are Amtrak, Norfolk Southern Railway, New Jersey Transit, Canadian Pacific Railway, Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, the Reading Company Technical Historical Society and the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society, which will bring its newly painted DL&W F3A locomotives.
“We have a container car from Canadian Pacific that was used at the (Vancouver Winter) Olympics,” Mr. Brennan said. “Almost every employee signed it. It’s pretty neat.”
Special programs will include: Union Pacific No. 4012 “Big Boy” locomotive cab tours; Railway Post Office presentations; theater screenings; self-guided tours of local locomotive shops; caboose rides; and turntable demonstrations.
There will be steam-powered excursions to Moscow with “photo run-bys” during each trip. The excursions will depart the Steamtown boarding platform at 1 p.m. each day with a planned return to Scranton at around 3:30.
Excursion fares are $21 for adults 17 to 61, $19 for seniors 62 and older and $15 for children ages 6-16. Children 5 and younger require a “no-charge” ticket.
In addition, a special “Whistle Stop” excursion, pulled by the historic Reading Railroad FP-7 locomotives, will operate between East Stroudsburg and Steamtown with a stop at the recently restored Cresco station. The excursion departs East Stroudsburg at 9:45 a.m., arrives at Cresco at 10:15 and ends at Steamtown at 11:50. The return trip leaves Steamtown at 4 p.m. and arrives at Cresco at 5:30 and East Stroudsburg at 6:20.
Also included in the festivities will be an Amtrak “Trails to Rails” exhibit, the Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Society’s “City of Lima” sleeper car and a railroad layout made entirely of Legos by the Pennsylvania LEGO Users Group.
On the live entertainment side, the Vince Brust Studio dancers will perform on the first day on the Turntable Plaza with accompaniment by the Ron Leas Big Band. On the second day, award-winning singer-songwriter Ray Owen will present his “Great American Railroad Show,” featuring boxcar ballads, freight train blues, “rattle ‘n roll” songs, stories and hobo humor.
For those who want to partake in the other big Labor Day weekend event, La Festa Italiana, the Electric City Trolley Museum will offer free trolley rides between the two venues.
“That was a big success (last year). We’ve been working really close the last two years with La Festa,” said Mr. Brennan, noting La Festa president Chris DiMattio will be serving as Railfest’s grand marshal.
“It should be a real great weekend.”
Contact the writer: jmcauliffe@timesshamrock.comIf you go
What: Railfest 2010
Where: Steamtown National Historic Site
When: Saturday, Sept. 4, and Sunday, Sept. 5
Details: For a complete schedule of events, visit Steamtown’s Web site at www.nps.gov/stea. Or, call 340-5200.