Virginia Railway Express
ALL ABOARD! It’s that time again! Time to celebrate America's love affair with the railroad at the Thirteenth Annual Manassas Railway Festival on Saturday, June 2, 2007, from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. in historic Old Town Manassas, Virginia (at Prince William Street, West Street, Center Street and Battle Street). Admission is free. The festival will be held rain or shine.
Festivities will include VRE excursion rides; model rail displays; train memorabilia and railroad vendors; Civil War Drill Instruction demonstrations; children’s rides and train crafts; a Peek-A-Boo-Choo-Choo; live music from the Nothin’ Fancy Bluegrass Band; a visual comedy show by Pete Geist; Victorian games and demonstrations; and plenty of fabulous food. Admission to the Manassas Museum will also be free for visitors.
This year, a special performance by the Birmingham Lining Bar Gang will also be offered, featuring a group of re-enactors who demonstrate the way railroad tracks were aligned and maintained before the advent of mechanized devices in the 1950s and '60s. In demonstrating track-lining, one group member serves as a "caller", offering a two-line rhyme in a loud, clear voice that serves to synchronize the movement of other members so that each heaves with his iron lining bar at the same moment. These calls, which "helped the hard work go easy" according to a retired worker and former caller, served an indispensable function by uniting men's efforts and easing their minds.
VRE’s excursion rides will be offered every hour on the hour beginning at 10:00 a.m., with the last excursion ride departing at 3:00 p.m. The ride, which will run round-trip between the Manassas and Clifton stations and last about 35 minutes, will cost $5 (children under two ride free). Tickets must be purchased at the Manassas Visitor’s Center and the Train Depot (Advanced sale tickets are available from now through June 2 at the Train Depot in Manassas, 703-361-6599.) Passengers will not be allowed to detrain at Clifton, nor can people board at Clifton; it is strictly a round-trip excursion with passengers boarding and detraining at the Manassas station.
The Manassas Heritage Railway Festival is a celebration of the rich railway history that Manassas has to offer. Manassas Junction was the focal point of both the First and Second Battles of Manassas during the Civil War and the site of the nation's first military railroad, connecting Manassas and Centreville.
For more information about the Manassas Railway Festival, or to serve as a volunteer at the event (get a free festival t-shirt!), please contact Historic Manassas, Inc. at (703) 361-6599 or toll free at (877) 848-3018. More festival information can also be found at www.visitmanassas.org.
Historic Manassas, Inc. (HMI) is collaborating with the City of Manassas, The Manassas Museum, and The Harris Pavilion to make this year’s festival possible. Norfolk Southern is sponsoring the VRE excurision rides. Lockheed Martin, Southern States and Olde Towne Landscaping are also event sponsors.
Schedule of Manassas Railway Festival Trains
| Depart Manassas | 10:00a | 11:00a | 12:00n | 1:00p | 2:00p | 3:00p |
| Return Manassas | 10:35a | 11:35a | 12:35p | 1:35p | 2:35p | 3:35p |