Second Annual Model Railroad Festival

and

Family Fun Day

Saturday July 5, 2003  9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Click here to see printable flyer on the Model Railroad Festival

Click for more information on Family Fun Day

Free Parking & Shuttle Service

Free parking and shuttle service is available at the Warfield Complex.  Signs will be posted on Rt. 32 across from Cooper Drive to indicate the entrance to the complex.  The shuttle service will be serving the Model Railroad Festival and Family Fun Day. Visitors can then choose to ride the trolley or shuttle bus to the Main Street festival. Shuttle stops are at E.W. Beck’s parking lot for the Railroad Festival and Cooper Dr. for Family Fun Day.

 Sykesville Model Railroad Festival

July 5^th from 9 am – 5 pm

Main Street in Historic Sykesville

Historic Sykesville began as a “Horse Train Stop” along the Old Main Line when the B & O Railroad expanded its track further west.

On July 5^th forty or more trains in G, O, S, HO and N scale will be operating during the Model Railroad Festival.

Moreover, trains still run on the Old Main Line from point’s west to Baltimore.

Model Trains & Train Vendors

The Sykesville & Patapsco Railway, Inc., a model railroad club, will be running O, S, and HO scale trains in the C&O Pullman car.  Baltimore Area N-Trak and Meade Area Railroad Society are joining the festival and will be operating N and HO scale modular layouts in the hall at St. Paul’s U.M. Church.  Members of the Sykesville & Patapsco club, Larry Wessendorf and Cal Tedone, will be running G-gauge and Will Ford will have HO scale modular layout on display in the J & B Building.  

The Sykesville Gate House Museum of History will have two antique trains operating: a 1926 standard gauge Lionel and a 1935 Marx freight train.  Museum volunteer Larren Keen, of Woodbine, has created a diorama of the Sykesville railroad worker strike in HO scale.  Workers went on strike in 1831 and began tearing up track.  Military troops from Baltimore were brought by rail to Sykesville to stop the strike bringing about the first transport of military troops by rail. 

The museum will display railroad artifacts from the early days of the B&O’s Old Main Line.  The items are on loan from a private collection and will be on display only during the festival. 

The Museum, on Cooper Drive, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the festival.

Main Street

Although a portion of Main Street is closed to traffic, the shops will be open and decorated for the festival.  Many of the shops will host train displays.  Train and food vendors will line Main Street during the festival.  The B&O Museum will have a display and be on hand to answer questions about their restoration project.  Visitors can watch trains, browse vendor stalls, and specialty shops, and enjoy crab cakes, shrimp salad, and pit sandwiches. 

E.W. Beck’s Catering will open the catering hall as a comfort station.

The A. L. Howes Agency, Inc. will provide a First Aid station.

St Barnabas Parish House will host a Pancake breakfast from 7:00 am until 11 a.m. and St. Paul’s U.M. Church will host train displays. 

And, don’t let the barrier across Main Street stop you from visiting the Sykesville Train station.  Built in 1884, the Queen Anne-style station was designed by E. Francis Baldwin and features red pressed brick and matching red mortar, stained glass windows, and a slate roof.   Following in the Victorian tradition, the station had separate waiting rooms, women waited in the left room and men in the middle room. The right side of the station was set aside as the freight room.  The ticket and telegraph office was on the first floor.  The upper level rooms housed the stationmaster and his family. Freight and passenger service stopped in 1948. 

Restored in 1980, the station is home to a restaurant offering fine dining.  

Follow the train tracks west of town and you will find the Sykesville Tunnel, a Romanesque arch typical of the tunnels in the Mid-Atlantic region.

At the opposite end of town and just a short walk up Main Street, the “Dinky Trestle” can be seen passing over Spout Hill Rd.  A portion of the “Dinky Track” is located behind the Gate House Museum. With the development of Springfield State Hospital, a separate spur was constructed in 1908 to bring fuel, supplies and other materials directly to the facilities.  The three and a half-mile Springfield Railroad was nicknamed the “Dinky”.  A Baldwin Steam Engine pushed cars from the Old Main Line through town to the hospital grounds.  Later, gasoline and diesel engines took over until the track closed in 1972.

Especially for Children

Children will be able to ride on two trains, The “Little Sykes” Railway, a 12-inch scale diesel passenger train in Little Sykes Park off Sandosky Rd. 

Silly Willey, the clown and face painters will be on hand to entertain while waiting for a train ride at Little Sykes.

The “Trackless Train” will have rides at the Town House parking lot. 

A caricature artist will draw your child’s portrait in railroad engineers hat, just visit her booth on Main Street.

Festival Raffles

Win passes for a round trip for two on the Excursion Train that runs from Strasburg to Paradise, donated by the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania.

The Friends of Historic Sykesville are offering a raffle for a Children’s Party at the “Little Sykes” Railway.  The date, September 14, 2003, with a rain date Sept. 21, 2003 is reserved, and includes all the trimmings for a party for six children, a 30-minute performance by Silly Willy, the clown, use of Little Sykes Park and rides on the “Little Sykes” train from 1 – 3 p.m.  The raffle is made possible by Little Sykes Volunteers, Hair N Place, and Harmony Grams Entertainment. Tickets for both raffles will be on sale at the information booth.  

Workshops

The Sykesville & Patapsco Railway, Inc. will be conducting workshops for those interested in model railroading.  The workshops will be in the Old Main Line Visitors Center’s upper level.  

Will Ford will demonstrate “Railroad Scenery from Bench-work to Mountains” from 9:30 – 10:15 a.m. 

Joe Moltz will explain “Digital Command Control” Keith Albright will demonstrate “Athearn Diesels - Decoder Installation & Fine Tuning” from 11:00 – 11:45 a.m. 

Keith Albright will demonstrate “Athearn Diesels - Decoder Installation & Fine Tuning” from 1:00 – 1:45 p.m. 

The workshops are free and offered on a first come first served basis with a limit of forty.  As a courtesy to the instructors and visitors, the door will be closed once the workshop begins.

Free Parking & Shuttle Service

Free parking and shuttle service is available at the Warfield Complex.  Signs will be posted on Rt. 32 across from Cooper Drive to indicate the entrance to the complex.  The shuttle service will be serving the Model Railroad Festival and Family Fun Day. Visitors can then choose to ride the trolley or shuttle bus to the Main Street festival. Shuttle stops are at E.W. Beck’s parking lot for the Railroad Festival and Cooper Dr. for Family Fun Day.

Comfort Station

E. W. Beck’s Catering has donated the use of their catering hall as a comfort station during the festival.

Great Food

St Barnabas Parish House  - Pancake & Sausage Breakfast from 7:00 – 11 a.m.   Adults $5 and Children $2.50 or Muffins & Coffee for $1.25

St. Paul’s U.M. Church – Hotdogs, Kraut-dogs & Chili-dogs, Water & soda and a Bake Sale table

E. W. Becks Restaurant & Pub  - their famous crab cakes, pizza & drinks

Convenience Catering – Pit Beef, ham & turkey sandwiches, Sausage sandwiches, hamburgers, cheeseburgers & drinks

Salerno’s – Crab Dip, Shrimp salad, French fries, & drinks