Bill, we have our granddaughter’s high school play Friday night in Gaithersburg
so I will not get to Ashland until 10 or 11. Since I missed setup, I will stay
for the take down.
See you soon, Wally
Sent from my iPad
On Oct 31, 2017, at 7:12 PM, William Robertson <wsrsummer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The plan is still to set up at 8 AM at the Henry Clay Inn across from the
Amtrak Station. Tracy Cook is our contact at the Inn if needed.
Tom, Bob B., Gary, Ben, Jacob and myself plan to be there. Hope more members
can participate or at least stop by to enjoy all the fun.
Bill Gatewood sent me today the information below regarding the day's
activities. Bring your families to this FUN event.
Bill R.
TOOT TOOT . .got your attention now?
Can you feel the excitement in the air? In only one week the 15th annual
Ashland Train Day will be upon us. Of course we have had a conference call
with Mother Nature who we have asked for picture perfect weather. Keep your
fingers crossed.
Well for you old timers to Train Day, you all know that we will be hosting
lots of model trains in lots of places around town. So let’s take a quick
look at what we got again and what is new this year.
Starting at the Hanover Arts and Activity Center, we have the D&J Drag
Racing trains followed by the Silver Rail Club plus the Blue Ridge Division
RR and Curley’s Craft Corner wooden model trains. Moving north up the road
we get to the library where inside we will have the Spring Run RR and the
wooden Brio trains for the little ones. Outside we were to have the
Jamestown Rail who unfortunately had to cancel this week do to transportation
issues. Just a few doors up the street inside Cross Bros Grocery will be new
this year the Z-Scale suitcase train followed right out side by the
Rappahannock River Railroaders mobile caboose trailer.
A new location this year down England St at the Randolph-Macon Music
building will be the huge Lego trains. Making our way back to the west-side
of the tracks from the north end of the event inside the Henry Clay Inn is
the River City Three Railers next to the RVA-LUG Legos. Continuing south on
Railroad Ave we get to Tiny Tim’s Toys and Trains who will have her trains
running in her windows. Turning right into the town parking lot and heading
to the back door of the rescue squad building we come upon the Tidewater Big
Train Operators. Coming back out the back of the squad building we swing
over to the Ashland Museum and find their model train set up inside.
Last, but not least, after you jump aboard the eastern trolley, we head off
to the courtyard of the Ashland-Hanover Shopping Center (now the new Food
Lion SC) and beeline it to the courtyard to find the vast array of trains
from the RF&P Model Club inside the various storefronts.
Back in the heart of downtown we will review the lineup of music for us to
enjoy. Out front of the train station will be Jim Duckett following a
morning concert from the Hanover Concert Band. Headed over to the western
trolley stop at the Farmers Market will be an array of musicians playing.
Crossing over the tracks to the library and you will find the Singing
Conductor Roger Reynolds strolling around outside while inside the library
will be Matthew Dodd with his stories of the hobos and songs.
Now for hands on things, we got double the amount of speeder cars and hand
pump cars. Returning after a few years’ hiatus from Waynesboro will be a
speeder car and hand pump car located on the north side of the train station.
Back down at Cross Bros Grocery will be our long time folks from the
Rappahannock Chapter of the NRHS with their regularly displayed speeder car
and hand pump car.
Back inside at the Henry Clay Inn will be the C&O dispatcher status display
boards from the long time ago, pre-computer era operations. Out front of the
inn on the porch will be the RF&P Historical Society and the Old Dominion
Chapter-NRHS. Moving back down to the front of the library will be the Lee
Hall Depot folks who bring along our pal Chessie the Cat, best friends of our
own Cinder and Tender, our train bear mascots who are located at the new
selfie spot this year right in front of the new train mural in the parking
lot across the street from the library. This is also the food court area.
If you have not seen the train mural, well you are in for a real treat and
surprise. To say it is huge is . . . well . . an understatement. You have
to see it to believe it. Lets just say this, its over a hundred yard long !
! !
Sadly to say, CSX had a MAJOR shakeup this year with the hiring of the new
CEO, and as a result, our long time community affairs and safety crew folks
will not be with us this year. Severe budget cuts to the whole company and
extensive layoffs hit our friends hard, and we will miss them this year.
Long time partners with them were our friends at Operation Lifesaver.
Unfortunately they have had some difficulty this past year as well, and as we
understand it, they are not in operation in central Virginia at the moment.
Sounds like we got it all? Nope. Heading back down to the Hanover Arts and
Activity Center lawn we got the kiddie activities from swimming pools full of
corn to pumpkins for nailing golf tees into. That’s my favorite. Not to say
I play down there, but you’ll just have to watch and see. Also on the lawn
are our friends from Metro Richmond Tourism with their mobile tourism truck.
Great way to find out about all the other train events across the state.
No, I’m not finished. Heading back up the tracks to the library again,
inside they got drawing and other kiddie activities galore. Cross over those
famous tracks again and head over to the Ashland Coffee and Tea. Inside is
the documentary “A Railroad Runs Through It”. Cross the street and head to
the Ashland Museum. YES, that is a real caboose right out front. And yes,
you can go through it. And YES, everyone does go through it too. I just
heard from one of the museum staff this week that 3,200 folks went through it
last year. Does that tell you train events are the rage every year? Now go
inside the museum and operate the telegraph set. You can communicate with
the folks inside the caboose on the other end.
Nope, not close to finishing yet. Although we can’t ride the real trains,
as they are doing their thing riding up and down our rail, well you can at
least ride one of the two trains we have for the kids. Located at the
library or the food court area, it the next best thing to do. After the
thrilling ride, well, EAT! We got lots of great food lined up and it all in
one spot. No need to wander around town looking. If you want a sit down,
well check out our fine lineup of restaurants on the tracks. There is
something for everyone.
OK now. I’ve taken a breath, cause there is still more to come here. Got
too much sugar in those kids? Well send them back across the tracks to the
back of the library and check out the locomotive moon bounce. Yep, let them
burn off that sugar rush in style while you wonder how that happened in the
first place.
We’re winding down now. Thankfully. So turn back north to the train
station.. Our Ashland-Hanover Visitor Center is located right inside the
Ashland Train Station. Get all the local and Virginia info you want and of
course what better place to be seen waving at our passing by trains then out
front the train station. Want to know what those engineers and conductors
are saying on their radios while they pass thorough town? Of course you do.
So we got the WCSX radio listening post right out front. For those inquiring
folks who what to know what they are saying, you can hear it all. I like the
WCSX call letters. We of course made that up, but hey, it’s our event, so we
can do that you know. Take a few more steps north of the train station and
climb into and on the equipment of Crane Masters, the big trucks, cranes and
railriding trucks the railroads contact for all those bad days the railroads
have once in awhile.
Did I miss anything? Well of course I did. I’m so worn out typing this
update that I forgot my most favorite dynamic duo. Cinder and Tender. I did
mention them earlier with the new selfie spot, but I didn’t highlight them
then. Our best known, best photo taking, best get a great big bear hug, best
ambassadors for Train Day pals there ever could be, are waiting to see
everyone. And of course, you all remember they are dressed in their bib
overalls, bandana and engineer hat. Tender in pink, naturally, I might add.
So as a friendly reminder, you better not be outdone by the bears. If so,
well, who knows what might happen. So come dressed for the party. It’s
gonna be fun.
On another note, I’ll be sending out another email regarding info on setting
up and access to buildings for next weekend. Some it won’t make a difference
and some it will. Be on the lookout for that.
If you got anything you need to know, give me a call on the Hotline,
804-412-7288 and I’ll try to answer your inquiry. Thank you so much for
being a part of this great event and as we all know, its for the kids . . and
the adults too.
Bill Gatewood
Chairman
P. S. We got an information tent right at the main crossing in town, so stop
by and pickup a tee shirt, and other accessories. The crew there knows where
everything is too.
P. P. S. I forgot to thank everyone. That would be you, for being a part of
this wonderful event and making it happen. Without the help of so many
folks, we could not make this event happen. So please know that we all
appreciate what everyone does and how it makes Ashland, Ashland.
I know I have forgotten a few things, but I did my best to remember it all,
so if I overlooked something we got, I apologize for that.
Please share this with your comrades as I know I don’t have eveyone’s email
and there are lots and lots of folks who work behind the scenes that I don’t
have their contact info. So please make sure your team gets this so they
have an idea of what is in store for this year. See you all in a week.
Ashland Train Day - ( Our 15th Year )
Along the tracks in downtown Ashland, VA
1st Saturday in November (11-4-2017)
ATD Hotline: 804-412-7288
AshlandTrainDay@xxxxxxxxx
www.AshlandTrainDay.com
www.Facebook.com/AshlandTrainDay
On Twitter: @AshlandTrainDay
