Sunday, October 30, 2011

Over 5,100 People Have Halloween Fun at the 3rd Annual Halloween at the Roundhouse Event

That's right! 5,139 people attended the 3rd annual Halloween at the Roundhouse event this past Saturday, October 29th, 2011. And there were plenty of new attractions this year to please everyone that attended. Trick or Treat bags were handed out to the youngsters as they entered the the gate. Ten candy stations were located throughout the complex for the kids to get their treats. The 1913 Northern Pacific wood caboose was transformed into a haunted caboose complete with animatronic ghouls, black light cob webs, strobe lights, fog, spiders, rats and an old pirates coffin. At times through out the event the line for this attraction snaked all the way out the back door of the roundhouse and was viewed by many people numerous times. Other new attractions to this years Halloween event were the Petting Zoo and Pony rides which both saw non-stop lines all day long also.

A first time special fund raising event "Tea at the Track Side" offered guests some private time with Special Guests Sir Topham Hatt and his wife Mrs. Jane "Lady" Hatt over tea (fruit punch) cupcakes and pretzels. According to eye witnesses at the event, all was going fine until a group of unruly witches crashed the party and poisoned every ones tea. As Sir Topham Hatt and Mr. Conductor were trying to reason with the witches Dorthy and Toto burst in with super soaker squirt guns and began melting the witches until they flew away. Glenda, the Good Witch of the North, had put special powers into Dorothy's ruby slippers that allowed her to reverse the poisonous spell on the tea and allowed the event to continue.

Three hay rack rides moved people throughout the complex. One shuttled people in the parking lot to and from their cars and the main gate while the other two moved people throughout the complex.

A great time was held by all. Not only the guests but the volunteers as well. I would like to take this time to publicly thank the more than 60 volunteers that gave up their time, came together and worked this event to make it the huge success that it was. Without them, none of this would ever be possible.

Another, milestone was also completed at this event. This event pushed us over the 20,000 visitor mark for this year. That's a 58.8% increase over the total visitor count for last year and we still have two more months to go! A hardy well done and a very warm thank you, once again, goes out to everyone in our fantastic 100% volunteer organization. You are all amazing and a complete pleasure to work with. Thank You!

Now that this event is over, what can we possibly do next? Well, I will give you a hint. It will probably cover the first three weekends in December and Ho, HO, HO will be a popular theme.

Stayed tuned to this site for further updates!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Ironhorse Day's: More than 1,100 people say Happy Birthday to Old Ironhorse


On Saturday and Sunday October 15 & 16 the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District & Museum in Sioux City, Iowa and over 1,100 quests celebrated the 102nd birthday of Sioux City’s landmark steam locomotive, Great Northern Railways # 1355 or better known to locals as Old Ironhorse.

The two day event featured seminars about the history of GN1355 and steam power. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad had a representative showing videos and discussing railway safety and how trains and automobiles can co-exist safely through its Operation Lifesaver program.

A special drawing was held for a free GN1355 t-shirt and that was won by Mr. Jim Residorff of David City, NE. Congratulations!

Guests were also treated to roundhouse turntable rides and motor car rides/tours. A good time was had by all in attendance. Thank you all for your support.