All are welcome aboard at the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum’s first annual Rail Fest on Saturday, Sept. 20, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Visitors will have the opportunity to ride a restored vintage caboose and operate a locomotive through a simulator, as well as live music, activities and a food vendor.
“It’s an opportunity for people to come and experience what we have to offer on a much larger scale,” said John Specce, the president of the museum.
The festival will be held at the museum’s Display Yard, located at the intersection of Bay and Bayview Avenues in Oyster Bay. Admission will also include entry into the station museum, located at 1 Railroad Ave.
The railroad museum operates for a limited time, opening on weekends from noon to 4 p.m. from late April through late November. Last year, the museum was one of four historic sites that received an Award for Excellence from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network, celebrating its modernization and innovation.
Specce said the museum has had 1,800 visitors so far this year, which he said is a good attendance rate considering its limited days and hours.
Specce said that while the museum was brainstorming ways to expand its reach to the community, it was inspired by the Railroad Museum of Long Island, with locations in Greenport and Riverhead, which hosts an annual Rail Fest out east. He said the event will “give the public a greater opportunity to see what [the museum is] about.”
Specce said he himself has always loved trains. Growing up in Queens, he would watch the trains run past his apartment.
About 10 years ago, he became the president of the railroad museum, and now, he said he hopes others will come visit the museum for a day of “fun and adventure.”
The festival will also mark the museum’s 25th anniversary. There will be a ceremony at noon to celebrate the anniversary, and the museum will name a dinky locomotive in honor of it.
“That will be one of the highlights,” Specce said.
Specce said another one-of-a-kind opportunity is riding the museum’s restored caboose. Riders will be pulled along a short track and go through a turntable, which is the only operational turntable on Long Island aside from one used on the Long Island Rail Road.
Specce said the festival offers visitors a unique opportunity to learn more about the railroad, especially through simulations and demonstrations.
“You’re not going to get this anywhere else,” he said.
For more information, visit obrm.org.
