Tweetsie Celebrates Golden Anniversary

By Scott Nicholson

Tweetsie Railroad is chugging through its Golden Anniversary year with special events, enthusiastic crowds and a commitment to making the next 50 years even better.

The “little engine that could” jumped the tracks of a working rail system and found a permanent and welcome home on a three-mile loop that became a Wild West theme park, complete with souvenir shops, special events, music and entertainment, a petting zoo, rides, and a host of activities for all ages.

“In the 1950’s, I don’t think anybody ever expected and contemplated we’d ever be around this long and be one of the still-remaining small theme parks in America,” said Chris Robbins, executive vice president of the theme park nestled between Boone and Blowing Rock. “They created something special at Tweetsie that’s endured and made people want to bring their children and grandchildren to Tweetsie.”

A discussion with visitors quickly reveals those generational links that help account for the park’s continued success, through legal disputes, concerns over land leases, and the usual costs and complications of operating a major business in an area of high land values.

Robbins said there is no reliable data on visitor numbers from the 1960s and 1970s, but said attendance growth has been steady and the anniversary year has gotten off to a strong start. About a decade ago, the park made a conscious decision to offer more special events such as Rail Fan Day, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, show dogs and special musical acts. In the park’s early days, stars from child-oriented television shows as well as westerns were often featured attractions, but now those acts are spread across the entire season.

“Tweetsie is a major focus of summer and fall activities,” said Judy Donaghy, executive director of the regional tourism promotion organization High Country Host. “A lot of people who call in about Tweetsie are people who went there as children and they are bringing their children or grandchildren. Tweetsie is very popular with families with younger children.”

Donaghy said those who come for Tweetsie Railroad also learn about the region’s other appeals, such as activities and scenic beauty, and that interest trickles over into other sectors of the local economy “They want to know what else there is to do in the area, and where they can find hotels, restaurants and other attractions,” she said.

Tweetsie’s “real” history began in 1866 with the establishment of the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad Company, with a border-crossing narrow-gauge rail beginning service in 1882. Rail service to Boone was connected in 1919, with the nickname “Tweetsie” deriving from the sound of the train whistle.

In 1950, ET & WNC Railroad Company dissolved and Locomotive #12 was moved to Virginia. Grover Robbins, Jr., purchased the train from western-movie star Gene Autry and moved it to Blowing Rock in 1956.

After extensive repairs to the steam engine, the train was moved to the current theme park on U.S. 321 in May, 1957, with visitor rides beginning that summer.

Fifty years later, the three-mile loop has become a centerpiece of the tourism sector and a deep part of the county’s history. As Robbins observed, “Not many people around here remember a time when Tweetsie wasn’t here,” he said. “For most of us, it’s been part of Watauga County all of our lives.”

The first year, the “park” was only a stretch of track, a ticket booth and a concession stand. Now it employs up to 300 people during the season and has a full-time staff of 27.

The park attracts about 250,000 visitors a year. A private study commissioned by Tweetsie showed it had an annual impact of $27.4 million on the region.

“There’s an economic impact on hotels, restaurants and other attractions while people are here for Tweetsie,” Robbins said. “That’s all been well documented.”

The park added new rides this year designed to appeal to teenagers and older children and enhance the family atmosphere. “You don’t want to mess too much with Tweetsie and lose the fundamental appeal, but we’ve tried to expand carefully,” Robbins added.

The only dark cloud besides that cast by the chuffing smokestack is Tweetsie’s uncertain future. The park currently has extended property leases through the 2010 season, but has explored moving to nearby counties because of high local land prices. Watauga County is also discussing economic incentive packages with the park to keep the jobs and tourism income. “I have no choice but to be optimistic,” Robbins said.

For one golden summer, the park remains full of fun, laughter, and the resonant echo of the steam whistle.

“It’s fun and exciting and allows children to use their imaginations to become cowboys, Indians and train engineers,” Robbins said. “Even though westerns have largely gone away on television and in movies, kids are still attracted to the cowboy mystique,” Robbins concluded. “And there’s the universal attraction of kids to the steam locomotive. And for adults, too, if they want to admit it.”

Tweetsie Railroad Through the Years

1866 - The Tennessee legislature grants a charter to the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC).

1882 - ET&WNC begins operation with 32-mile narrow-gauge service from Johnson City, Tenn. to the iron mines at Cranberry, N.C.

1917 - Engine No. 12 was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pa., at a cost of $14,000.

1919 - ET&WNC extends tracks for service to Boone, N.C.

August 1940 Torrential rains wash away large sections of ET&WNC track, forcing the company to abandon service to the mountains rather than rebuild.

1950 - The ET&WNC discontinues all narrow-gauge rail service, marking the end of an era.

1952 - Engine No. 12 is bought by three railroad buffs and moved to Harrisonburg, Va. as a tourist attraction called Shenandoah Central Railroad.

1953 - Hurricane Hazel washes away most of Shenandoah Central tracks. Singing cowboy Gene Autry purchases the rights to buy the Tweetsie locomotive and cars, and move them to California. After determining it was too costly to ship the engine to the west coast, he sells his option to Grover C. Robbins, Jr., for $1.

1956 - N.C. Governor Luther Hodges proclaims “Tweetsie Homecoming Day” as the 80-ton locomotive returns to North Carolina for refurbishing in the Hickory repair shops of Carolina & Northwestern Railway Company.

1957 - Tweetsie is moved up the mountain from Hickory to its new home near Blowing Rock, not far from its old railroad stop in Boone.

July 4, 1957 - Tweetsie makes its first run on a one-mile track carrying passengers to a picnic area, then backs up to the station.

1958 - An authentic western town is added to Tweetsie Railroad, and the park adopts a Wild West theme.

1959 - Charlotte television station WBTV rents Tweetsie for a birthday party for Fred Kirby, beginning a nearly 30-year career for Kirby as Tweetsie’s marshal.

1960 - Another narrow-gauge locomotive, the Baldwin-built No. 190 “Yukon Queen” is acquired from Alaska, and brought to Tweetsie to be rebuilt and placed in operation.

1962 - A chair lift is erected to the top of Miner’s Mountain, expanding the park with additional rides, a Deer Park and other family entertainment.

1976 - Tweetsie opens its own Steam Locomotive Shop to handle maintenance on its two vintage steam trains as well as other steam engines across the country.

October 1990 - The Ghost Train Halloween Festival debuts with a spooky nighttime train ride and a small haunted house.

1992 - Engine No. 12 celebrates its 75th birthday with a new coat of paint to match original colors. The U.S. Department of the Interior lists Tweetsie in National Register of Historic Places.

1997 - Tweetsie celebrates its 40th anniversary as the first theme park in North Carolina.

1998 - The Tweetsie Railroad Steam Locomotive Shop is expanded to a modern facility to better serve an expanding array of customers. Historic engine No. 12 is completely overhauled to its original condition.

1999 - Rebuilt historic engine No. 12 is unveiled. Bachmann Train Company recognizes Tweetsie with a G-scale model replica of the locomotive.

2000 - Tweetsie celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Ghost Train Halloween Festival, which has grown to become named one of the “Top 20 Events in the Southeast” by the Southeast Tourism Association. Engine No. 190, the “Yukon Queen,” is completely overhauled to its original condition.

2001 - Tweetsie Railroad celebrates its 44th season and was voted by the readers of Blue Ridge Country magazine as the “Best Place to Take the Kids in the Blue Ridge Mountains”.

2002 - Tweetsie celebrates its 45th season with a new album by the Grammy Award winning band Riders In The Sky, titled Ridin’ the Tweetsie Railroad. It contains some of the classic American railroad songs, plus songs written about Tweetsie Railroad by the band’s members: Too Slim, Ranger Doug, Woody Paul, and Joey the Cowpolka King. Thomas the Tank Engine™ makes its first appearance at Tweetsie Railroad for a ten-day event, starting an annual tradition.

2003 - Tweetsie Railroad commences its season with the debut of the Tweetsie Twister ride on Miner’s Mountain, the return of Thomas the Tank Engine, and the opening of an entertainment stage for its new Hopper and Porter™ mascot characters.

2004 - The Purina Incredible Dog Team performs for the first time at Tweetsie Railroad in a nine-day-long event. These amazing canines have won acclaim across America performing on television, at halftime shows and at other public events. Tweetsie Railroad acquires the assets of Castle Ridge Products, which manufactured scores of Crown steam locomotives during the late 20th century. These assets are added to Tweetsie’s renowned Steam Locomotive Shop, which supplies parts and complete rebuilding services to owners of steam locomotives at parks, attractions and museums in North America.

2005 - Tweetsie completed its second straight season of increased attendance welcoming families from across the Southeastern part of the United States. Ghost Train® Halloween Festival celebrated its 15th anniversary in October as one of the High Country’s premier Halloween events.

2006 - Thomas the Tank Engine™ made its fifth consecutive visit to Tweetsie Railroad. The park also brought back Railfan Weekend. Railroad enthusiasts had the opportunity to see the lost art of steam locomotive restoration during tours of the famous Tweetsie Railroad shops and took an exclusive train ride on an 1870’s vintage coach car.

2007 - Tweetsie’s 2007 season marks the 50th anniversary of the park, which first opened its gates to the public on July 4, 1957. Other highlights of the season include a first time visit from Bob the Builder™ and the Can-Do Crew as well as the unveiling of new park rides including the Tweetsie Tornado, Free Fall, Round-Up and Den of Lost Thieves.