On May 26 at 11am, tourism officials and local railroad enthusiasts, better known as “railfans” will gather in the historic Orange County Train Depot to launch their new Railfan tour guide “Tracks Through Time”. The tour connects railfans and novices alike to both the rich rail history of the area and to the railroad presence in the county today.
“From the cover art on the guide created by local artist Todd Brown, to the point-by-point, drivable tour, “Tracks Through Time” will help bring alive an amazing story of local railroading for even casual railfans,” says Leigh Mawyer, Tourism Manager for Orange County. “It includes hundreds of notes on 27 sites, many of which are off the beaten path and not obvious to the untrained eye.”
Local historians and tourism officials personally visited each of the spotlighted locations to make sure all sites are visible from public rights-of-way. The guide includes a map and GPS waypoint references to all the sites, plus the notes and stories about their past and present.
“American railroading goes beyond the raw economics and the brute power and mass of the equipment,” says Frank Walker, Jr. of Tourguide, Ltd., a local historian and resource for the guide. “There is a mystery, a romance, an awakening of the wanderlust lurking somewhere in most everyone. And then there are the stories. During the golden age of railroads, there were five different right of ways running through Orange County, making it the commercial hub dominating the region.”
At one point in the 1930s and 40s, as many as 13 trains were understood to have stopped in Orange County every day. Frank notes, “While one hasn’t stopped here since 1970, we now have a great guide beginning with when railroads were the only good roads, and everything else was dirt and mud, to the collapse of the industry in the 1950s, to its present-day economic prominence.”
The May 26th guide launch will include a display of artwork by Todd Brown, as well as a special display of pictures and unique artifacts from local railroad history. It will be held at the Orange County Visitor Center which is located within the restored Orange Train Depot, 122 East Main Street in Orange, itself Waypoint #1 on the tour.
For more information, please contact Leigh Mawyer, Tourism Manager, at 540-661-5328 or [email protected].
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