Annual Railway Days chugs into Heritage Park

Choo-choo!

Loud whistles and the deep chug rumbling in the belly of a steaming locomotive marks the beginning of Railway Days, one of Heritage Park’s biggest events of the year.

Barb Munro, communication specialist at Heritage Park Histori- cal Village, said whether you’re a train enthusiast or just looking for something fun to do with the family, Railway Days has everything from free train rides to learning “the secret language of the hobo.”

Munro said one of the neatest events happening is learning how to send and receive a telegraph in real-time.

“We realized we have lines connecting to three different stations, and this year we can actually send telegraphs,” Munro explained.

Another cool activity is deciphering how those once known as “vagabonds” communicated to one other as they traversed the country hidden in the bowels of an unsuspecting train.

“Hobos used to have symbols they’d carve into fences as they rode the rails,” Munro said.

Other railway activities happening over the weekend include rare opportunities to tour inside the park’s steam engine cab and witness the railway turntable in action; model train displays, photography contests and a chance to be an “Engineer for a Day” are some of the many activities happening over the weekend.

Railways Day will be held at Heritage Park Sept. 24 and 25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit: www. heritagepark.ca