Come celebrate the Ridge Runners 50th Birthday at Lotito City Park Sunday, October 5, 2014 from 12:00-6:00 p.m. Thanks to the generosity of an all-day sponsorship provided by Danny and Lecia Smith, there will be free rides, balloons, and a 1:00 p.m. cake cutting ceremony with new Bluefield, WV City Manager, Dane Rideout. This will be the last day of operation for the 2014 season. In 1964, Skyland Corporation, a private corporation, brought the Ridge Runner to the East River Mountain Overlook as part of a larger plan to develop the mountain top into a major tourist attraction. The train attracted tourists to the world’s smallest interstate railroad, but the completion of I-77 in 1976 with tunnels through East River and Big Walker Mountains, took traffic away from old U.S. Route 21-52. By the early 1980s, the railroad was not self-sustaining and the city acquired the project with the idea of re-establishing it in Lotito City Park, per Bill Archers history of the train. The city re-launched the Ridge Runner in 1984, but time had taken a toll on the train and the track. With limited revenues as well as increasing maintenance costs, the city parked the train in its underground tunnel/garage complex where it remained until the a rail excursion to Bluefield from Roanoke, Va., prompted Andy Merriman, a former city manager, to consider ways to promote the city’s railroad theme. The Save the Ridge Runner Committee was created and tasked with raising funds for a restoration. The committee exceeded all expectations of fundraising success, with in-kind and cash donations totaling $350,000. Just this year, the committee worked to rebuild the locomotives engine, delaying the start of the Ridge Runners 2014 season. However, ridership has been excellent with 12,401 riders taking the loop through city park this year. Expectations are that ridership will break the 13,000 threshold with this weekends celebration. Check out the new safety crossing equipment which was also installed at the entrance of Yakkity Yak playground this Spring thanks to a grant from the Norfolk Southern Foundation and in-kind donations from Raymond Woody, Hylton Electric, Citizens Building Supply, Southwest Holdings, and the City of Bluefield Parks and Recreation Department and Lori Mills, Ridge Runner Operations Manager for the City of Bluefield. For more information on the Ridge Runner 50th celebration, please call Lecia Smith at 540-552-0541 or Lori Mills at 304.325.6354.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 21:56:16 +0000
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