NORFOLK, Va. ó The Norfolk Southern Exhibit Car, a traveling showcase with a new updated locomotive simulator, will visit Spencer in September as part of a 23-city tour taking place during the remainder of 2008.
The Exhibit Car has hosted some 1.5 million people in several hundred communities since 1971 and houses interactive displays featuring Norfolk Southern’s transportation network. New for the 2008 tour is an updated locomotive simulator that puts guests in the engineer’s seat in control of a virtual train.
The nine-state May-December itinerary for the rebuilt passenger coach will include a five-city whistle-stop train operated by Norfolk Southern to promote safe transportation of hazardous materials, as well as three special trains supporting Operation Lifesaver, the national rail safety education group.
Here is the 2008 Exhibit Car tour schedule:
– May 10: Roanoke, Va., Winston Link Museum Rail Heritage Festival.
– May 17: Old Fort, Old Fort Rails and Trails.
– May 23, 24: Shenandoah, Va., Memorial Day Festival and Parade.
– June 7: Manassas, Va., Manassas Heritage Railway Festival.
– June 14: Delphi, Ind., Heritage Transportation Festival.
– June 21: Roanoke, Va., Virginia Museum of Transportation African-American Railroad Celebration.
– July 2-7: Altoona, Pa., Railroaders Memorial Museum.
– July 16: Operation Lifesaver train round trip Roanoke – Lynchburg, Va.
– July 31-Aug. 4: Jasper, Ind., Strassenfest.
– Aug. 6: Operation Lifesaver train round trip Delaware-Chillicothe, Ohio.
– Aug. 13: Operation Lifesaver train round trip Toledo-Bellevue, Ohio.
– Aug. 30, 31: Scranton, Pa., Lackawanna Railfest 2008 at Steamtown National Historic Site.
– Sept. 12-19: TRANSCAER Whistle-Stop Tour: Austell, Ga.; Greenville, S.C.; Charlotte; Greensboro.; and Roanoke, Va.
– Sept. 26-28: Spencer, Thomas the Tank Engine at North Carolina Transportation Museum..
– Oct. 2-5: Toccoa, Ga., Currahee Military Weekend.
– Oct. 8-20: Chattanooga, Tenn., Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.
– Nov. 1: Meridian, Miss., Railfest.
– Nov. 5-23: Duluth, Ga., Southeastern Railway Museum.
– Dec. 5-7: Strasburg, Pa., Thomas the Tank Engine at Strasburg Railroad.