Bluefield Daily Telegraph
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In what should provide another welcomed tourism boost to Bluefield, area leaders appear to be all onboard for a second railroad excursion this fall.
The return of the popular two-day rail excursion sponsored by the Roanoke Chapter of National Railway Historical Society is welcomed. The “Fall Foliage Amtrak Excursion” train will arrive in Bluefield on Sunday, Nov. 7, to help kick off this year’s activities.
Bluefield, a city that was originally built to serve the Norfolk & Western Railway, went for more than 12 years without a railroad excursion. That all changed last year when the city rolled out the red carpet for more than 850 visitors who participated in the first Roanoke to Bluefield rail excursion in more than a decade. The event was an overwhelming success for the city.
This year, rail enthusiasts from across the region and beyond will have an opportunity to climb on board for the city’s second rail excursion. The chapter sent out a memo last week announcing the date for the excursion and reporting that additional details regarding the event will be made public in the near future.
The Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, also met last week with city officials and members of the Mercer County Convention and Visitors Bureau where ideas were shared and proposed for this year’s excursion.
According to Marie Blackwell, executive director of the Mercer County Convention and Visitors Bureau, local individuals and organizations have been invited to participate in a second planning meeting for later this month.
“The response I have received has been positive and supportive,” Blackwell said. “People enjoyed the excursion last year, and I think they’re anxious to do it again. Everywhere I’ve been, the excitement is there.”
Blackwell said last year’s excursion was an overwhelming success. The late fall weather cooperated, and hundreds of visitors shopped at local businesses and from vendors set up in the vicinity of Chicory Square.
This year the popular miniature trains currently on display at Chicory Square as part of the “Paint the Train” promotion will still be on exhibit at Chicory Square when the rail excursion rolls into town.
The Roanoke to Bluefield excursion is the second of two trips the Roanoke chapter is sponsoring this year. The first trip will be on Saturday, Nov. 6, and will travel to Danville, Va.
We are excited about the return of another rail excursion to Bluefield this fall. It is only fitting and proper that we continue this popular rail excursion in a city that was built upon the historic N&W railway. After all, it was not unusual to have as many as a dozen passenger trains arriving in Bluefield on a daily basis at one time many years ago.
It is our hope that the rail excursions can once again become a regular, if not annual, event for our region.
