·PRRH Celebrates 35 Years·
·Railbus Acquired by PRRH·
·Annual Phillipsburg Railroad Festival·
·Railbus Acquired by PRRH·
·Annual Phillipsburg Railroad Festival·
Saturday September 27th was a busy day around town. The annual Railroad Festival had the three railroad related venues open for inspection. Union Station and PU tower opened their doors for visitors and we had the museum open and the Centerville and Southwestern miniature railroad in operation.
Prior to beginning operations we held a brief ceremony unveiling a new bench in front of the museum building in memory of deceased member Bruce Thompson. Bruce could be seen volunteering during open house events and helping during weekly work parties. Bruce's wife Susankelly and son Austin were in attendance for the unveiling.
Prior to beginning operations we held a brief ceremony unveiling a new bench in front of the museum building in memory of deceased member Bruce Thompson. Bruce could be seen volunteering during open house events and helping during weekly work parties. Bruce's wife Susankelly and son Austin were in attendance for the unveiling.
The opening ceremony for the festival was held in Shappell Park. Festival organizer Aaron Coleman, Mayor Piazza Jr, members of city council and representatives from PU Tower and PRRH President Paul Carpenito were in attendance.
President Carpenito was among the dignitaries to speak. Then he was given the honor of cutting the ribbon to officially start the day's activities.
After the ribbon cutting Michelle Zychowski from the office of US Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. presented us with a certificate of Recognition for 35 years of serving the community. (L-R) Aaron Coleman, Paul Carpenito, Mayor Piazza and Michelle Zychowski
The Railroad Historians of the Lehigh Valley and Operation Life Saver were there for our visitors.
We also displayed antique cars and an original horse drawn Becker Farms milk wagon.
We had a visit from Chuck Walsh, owner of the popular YouTube channel Lackawanna Cutoff. Chuck is doing a 2 part series on the Centerville and Southwestern miniature railroad and was interviewing engineer Asa Frantz for the upcoming part B. Part A of the series can be seen here.
At 1 pm we held a short ceremony to mark our acquisition of a 1922 Mack Railbus. This very rare piece has been stored on our property since 2002 but we recently made arrangements to purchase it.
We provide lunch for our volunteers who staff our open house events. We had a little extra treat this time, a sheet cake to celebrate 35 years. It didn't take long for the 45 volunteers who serviced our 353 C & S riders to finish the cake.
Our next open house is on Saturday, October 11 from 11 till 5. Pork Roll Palooza will be happening in Shappell Park at the same time, so come on out, take a ride and bring an appetite. There will be lots of food and shopping vendors in the park.
