Oct. 16, 2005
 
EVENTS: Railroad Days 2005 Debuts on Picture-Perfect Fall Day
 
By David M. Kinchen Editor, Huntington News Network
 
Hinton, WV (HNN) – Hinton’s 2005 Railroad Days debuted Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005 on a day event organizers dream about: Temperatures in the 70s, brilliant blue skies with a few puffy clouds.
 
Thousands of people crowded the narrow streets of this historic and picturesque railroad town where the Bluestone, Greenbrier and New Rivers meet. The C.P. Huntington Excursion train from Huntington added an estimated 1,000 more.
 

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Parking was at a premium, but everybody seemed to take it in their stride and enjoy themselves on Temple Street and side streets where vendors had set up booths for crafts, food, clothing, jewelry and even wine from Kirkwood Wineries of Summersville, WV. Food ranged from the ever popular funnel cakes to brats, hot dogs, hamburgers and Irish stuffed potatoes in the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church basement.
 
The festivities of this year’s Railroad Days will occupy the weekends of Oct. 15-16 and Oct. 22-23, 2005, with the activities taking place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Temple Street from 2nd to 4th avenues here.
 
The centerpiece of the event is the New River Train from Huntington (with intermediate stops in St. Albans and Montgomery), sponsored by the C.P. Huntington Historical Railroad Society. The train, arriving each of the four days, between 1 and 2 p.m., adds 1,000 people to the street festival, according to coordinator Dorothy Jean Boley.
 
Operated in conjunction with Amtrak, the New River Train from Huntington (with intermediate stops in St. Albans and Montgomery) is sponsored by the C.P. Huntington Historical Railroad Society. This year’s train arrived about 12:30 p.m. and features – in addition to the Amtrak coaches -- historic railroad coaches from the golden age of American railroading.
 
At least 5,000 people – almost twice the population of Hinton – attend the event each day, estimates Boley. The first train ran in 1968 and many trains in the subsequent years were pulled by steam locomotives. The high cost of insurance for the iron horses led to the arrangement with Amtrak.
 
Repeating this year is the one-day Nitro Antique Auto Club car show, held in the courthouse annex parking lot on Saturday, Oct. 15. It was a crowd pleaser in its inaugural appearance at the 2004 Railroad Days. This year’s version featured cars ranging in age from a 1929 Model A Ford through cars of the 1940s, 1960s , 1970s and 1980s. A 1966 Chevy Malibu couple was a standout, as was a 1970s Lincoln Mark IV, a very yellow 1948 Studebaker Commander coupe and several well-restored 1960s vintage Ford Mustangs.
 
Boley said about 60 street vendors with arts and crafts and food will set up their displays on the two-block stretch of Temple Street in downtown Hinton. The area is closed to vehicular traffic during the festival. The Summers County Public Library will hold its popular book sale on the four days of the event.
 
Entertainment in Town Square at 3rd and Temple included Jim Costa, the Farron Young Trio, Jesse Ratliff, the Scampers, Bobby Lilly, Asenath and Unlimited Bluegrass, the Hinton Area Elementary Drama Club and the Talcott Drama Club. Pony rides and carriage rides were also offered this year.
 
Railroad Days, an official West Virginia state festival, is sponsored by the city of Hinton and the Hinton Railroad Museum, with volunteer coordinators Boley, Bobby Basham and Edward Jones. It recognizes the railroading heritage of Hinton, once a division point on the Chesapeake & Ohio line, now known as CSX. The town is served by the three times a week Cardinal, Amtrak Trains 50 and 51, linking Chicago and New York.