The Ma & Pa Railroad Heritage Village, 1258 Muddy Creek Forks Road, Airville, will hold its 22nd annual Heritage Day on Saturday, Sept. 28, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The open house will feature special exhibits, presentations, displays, demonstrations, handmade crafts, children's activities, and food, along with tours of the historic village and train rides through the scenic Muddy Creek Valley on the right of way of the Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad.
Admission to the historic village and buildings is free. Train rides run at 45-minute intervals all day and frequently sell out hours in advance. Advance purchase of tickets at http://www.MaAndPaRailroad.com is advised. Separate fees have been set for adults and for children.
Heritage Day is the only time each season when Ma & Pa locomotive No. 82 and caboose No. 2007 are open to the public. A hand-pumped rail car will be available to ride. Visitors may tour the A.M. Grove general store, where there will be a working player piano, an antique guessing game, demonstrations of a rope-operated freight elevator, and a diorama showing life in the village in 1917.
Special exhibits for the day will include a collection of historic Ma & Pa artifacts, photos from the Ted Gleichmann collection, and the Penn LEGO Users Group with a diorama of the Red Lion station and Ma & Pa Railroad rolling stock. The mill and grain elevators will both be open and staffed with docents to explain how these businesses worked and how they contributed to the prosperity of the region.
The new repair facility at High Rock will be open for visitors to see some of the machines used to maintain and repair the equipment in preparation for running full-size rail equipment. New this year will be a slideshow, "Working on the Railroad," telling stories of the people who ran the railroad, from engineers to bridge crews to dispatchers and the railroad's president and more. A movie of a trip on the Ma & Pa Railroad about 50 years ago will run continuously throughout the day.
The public is invited to attend. More information on special events and full schedules can be found at the previously mentioned website. The Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad Preservation Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the heritage of the Ma & Pa Railroad.
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