National Train Day
National Train Day is a holiday started by Amtrak in 2008 as a method to teach the general public about the advantages of rail travel and the history of trains. It is held each year on the Saturday closest to May 10th, the anniversary of the pounding of the Golden Spike in Promontory, Utah which marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. Events are held at Amtrak stations as well as railroad museums across the country and often have passenger cars and model railroad layouts on display. The largest events usually take place in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, PA, Chicago, IL, and Los Angeles, CA. [1]
Types of Events
The major events Amtrak hosts in their key cities usually have a handful of Amtrak equipment on display which they allow visitors to walk through. This includes Acela and Keystone sets in the Northeastern cities, and Superliner cars in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Florida that are used on long distance trains in those regions. In addition, many private cars are also put on display. Most smaller events usually consist of a model train layout from a local club, with other train related items on display, but sometimes they'll have passenger rail car tours as well. Railway museums in particular like to do this.[2]
Television Personality Appearances
On National Train Day May 8, 2010 in Los Angeles Union Station, the opening ceremony was kickoff with a video message from actor Taye Diggs, the national spokesperson. Huell Howser was a MC/speaker. Also that same day in New York Penn Station, the cast of Cake Boss presented a special cake to Amtrak for the event.[3]
References
- ^ "Amtrak readies for National Train Day". USA Today.
- ^ "National Train Day at Danbury Railway Museum". www.CTVisit.com.
- ^ "'Cake Boss' Buddy Valastro presents train cake at Penn Station". NJ.com.