Ashe High Country Realty
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Railroad Heritage Weekend (August 26-27)

  • Railroad Heritage Weekend (August 26-27)

What do steam locomotives and the Blue Ridge Mountains have in common? A history that goes back to the 1800s! Over the August 26-27 weekend, celebrate the golden age of steam locomotives behind Tweetsie's historic coal-fired, steam locomotives. There will be special train rides, performances by Cherokee dancers, crafts from the Tsa-La-Gi Touring Program, tours of the Steam Locomotive Repair Shop and much more.

This year will celebrate the 100th birthday of the famous “Tweetsie” locomotive Engine Number 12, the last surviving narrow gauge steam locomotive of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina (ET&WNC), which ran service from Johnson City, Tennessee, to Boone, North Carolina, from 1919 to 1940.

During Railroad Heritage Weekend, visitors will also have the rare opportunity to visit the original Tweetsie Railroad Locomotive Shop, where Engines No. 12 and No. 190 are carefully maintained for daily use. The Shop has become one of the few places in the country that restores, rebuilds and creates impossible-to-find parts for steam-powered locomotives. There is even a giant space large enough to house an entire engine and tender, where the meticulous mechanics restore locomotives to operate better-than-new!

When: Saturday, August 26; Sunday, August 27
Time: 9am – 6pm
Where: US Highway 321 between Boone and Blowing Rock
Cost: Admission: $45 adult, $30 child, toddlers age 2 and under admitted free
For more information: visit: https://tweetsie.com/special-events/railroad-heritage-weekend

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