Four, 90-minute bus tours of Lehigh Anthracite mining operations between Tamaqua and Coaldale. Tickets are being sold at Tink’s Antiques in advance or day of ticket sales.  

DJ Shawn Frederickson playing railroad-themed music 

Tamaqua Historical Society Special L&NE Railroad Exhibit 

RCT&HS Replica Camelback steam engine/table display 

Tamaqua Historical Museum  

Hegarty Blacksmith Shop Open

Tamaqua Railroad Station Stamp Souvenirs at Train Station

Tamaqua Railroad Station and Visitor Center 

Anthracite Railroad Memorial 

Tamaqua Anthracite Model Railroad Club Open House 

Cramer’s Woodcrafts

Vintage Model Train Sales  

Coal Region Souvenirs 

Railroad and Mining photographs for sale 

Rarick’s Coal vintage coal truck on display 

Tamaqua Art Center – Gallery Display 

Tamaqua Station Restaurant 

Stokers Brewery 5th Anniversary Celebration 

Revere Brewery Tent Downtown 

Lakeside Winery  

Wheel Restaurant 

Tommy’s Italian Shop

Hope and Coffee – Live Music 

La Dolce Casa Restaurant and Bakery 

Sister’s Cantina  

Asia Star 

Tink's Antique's 

Tap-S-Trees

East End Market

Jupiter's Dust 

Charles X Block

M&S Hardware 

Inaugural ‘Tamaqua Railfest event Saturday in Tamaqua

A new event celebrating Tamaqua, Pennsylvania’s rich railroad history will kick off this Saturday August 26 from 10 to 5 in downtown Tamaqua, Schuylkill County. A passenger train from the Reading and Northern Railroad will arrive at the Tamaqua Station at 11:30 bringing visitors from outside the area to the Tamaqua Railfest and many other sites in the downtown area and beyond. The train will consist of a R&N RR diesel locomotive and vintage passenger coaches. The train will board at the Outer Station in Reading, PA. Tickets are available for the trip to the Tamaqua Railfest by contacting the railroad Passenger Dept. at 610-562-2102 or by visiting their website.

The central focal point of the Tamaqua Railfest is the outdoor vendors and exhibitors located all around the outside of the 1874 Tamaqua Railroad Station in the center of town. 

Other Railfest participating historic sites, museums, craft breweries, restaurants, antique shop, model railroad exhibits, blacksmithing demonstrations, etc. are mostly within walking distance from the Tamaqua Railroad Station.  A free map of all the locations that are open and participating will be available at the Tamaqua Chamber of Commerce information booth in front of the Station on Saturday, or log onto the Tamaqua Railfest QR Code. Pick up your map on Saturday so you don’t miss any of the other great things to see and visit!

Surrounding the Station, visitors and rail fans will find railroad and mining themed vendors and exhibitors, rail themed crafters, local and regional railroad, historical and preservation organizations, Reading Railroad items for sale, photographers selling prints of railroads and mining scenes, displays of original railroad antiques, mining artifacts, vintage train whistles, and antique railroad signs, model trains and accessories for sale, photographs for sale, coal region souvenirs, shirts, hats, and mugs, artist Shelby Van Cleef selling original paintings of railroad and mining themed artwork, author Vince Hydro selling books on railroading and mining, Reading and Northern Railroad souvenirs, Diesel engine cab tours, guided walking tours of historic railroad sites at 12:30 and 3:00, bus tours of Lehigh Anthracite mining operations at 9, 11, 1 and 3, Station Gift Shop open, Tamaqua postage stamp souvenirs, browse the historic 1874 Station,  Lakeside Winery, Revere Brewery booth, and several strolling costumed reenactors. 

Static railroad displays located around the Station on Saturday include the newly repainted and lettered PP&L fireless locomotive F restored by Tamaqua SOS, a railroad two man pump car, A railroad speeder car, a model T Ford L&NR RR pickup truck, the Anthracite Railroaders Memorial, Rarick’s Coal vintage hi-lift coal delivery truck, two railroad cabooses from the 1940s, a mine lokie from Atlas Powder Co., a large chunk of Anthracite coal, a replica coal mine car, PP&L Plymouth gas powered engine, 1870s P&R RR crossing watchbox, and original REA Express Carts. In Depot Square Park visitors can check out the beautiful fountain, gazebo, flower beds, magnolia trees, chunk of Anthracite coal and the large colliery bell from the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co.  

Organizations participating in the Tamaqua Railfest include the Tamaqua Chamber of Commerce, Tamaqua Historical Society, Tamaqua Area Community Partnership, Tamaqua Community Art Center, Tamaqua Anthracite Model Railroad Club, Tamaqua Public Library, Tink’s Antiques, Tamaqua Station Restaurant, Tamaqua SOS, Reading Company Technical and Historical Society, Railway Restoration Project 113 Minersville, Lansford Borough L&NE Station Committee, Railroad and Industrial Archaeology Preservation Society, the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, Penn Train and Hobbies, Joe Matakonis photography, and Strange Wings Photography,        

Entertainment throughout the day will be provided outside in Depot Square Park by DJ Shawn Frederickson playing railroad tunes and coal mining songs from 10 to 5. Music at Hope and Coffee on Pine Street by Sweet Ann Marie and Tyler Troutman from 10 to 12, Autumn Fall from 1 to 3, and John Kanahan from 5 to 7 including railroad songs. 

The Tamaqua Railroad Station Restaurant will be open from 11 to 8 PM, Tamaqua Community Art Center 125 Pine St. will have a special exhibit of railroad and coal mining art by Joe Evanousky from 10 to 5. Tamaqua Historical will have a special exhibit on the Lehigh and New England Railroad from 10 to 5 at 112 West Broad St. The Tamaqua Historical Society Museum at 118 West Broad St. will be open from 10 to 5. Check out the Tamaqua railroad exhibit featuring a special display of the original large steam whistle that once stood on top of the Tamaqua Enginehouse until 1960. Blacksmithing demonstrations in the 1848 Hegarty Blacksmith Shop by blacksmith Travis Sobolewski from 10 to 5. Tinks Antiques on South Railroad St. open 10 to 5. Tamaqua Anthracite Model Railroad Club at 139 West Broad St., second floor, will be open from 10 to 5. Tamaqua Public Library will be open from 9 to 3 with an operating O Scale layout featuring locomotive T1 2102 at 1:00 pm and a display of Thomas the Tank Engines. Stokers Brewery 5thAnniversary Celebration from 2 to 10 with lobster truck on Mauch Chunk St.  The L&NE Railroad Station on Dock St. in nearby Lansford will have an open house from 12 to 4 PM to tour the station.

Tickets for the four Lehigh Anthracite bus tours on Saturday at 9, 11, 1 and 3 sold in advance at Tink’s Antiques or purchased at the bus on Saturday. The bus will load and depart from the front of Tommy’s Italian Restaurant on North Railroad St. Tickets are $12 per person, cash only! Get your tickets before they are sold out.  

The Tamaqua Railfest is presented by the new Tamaqua Railroad and Tourism Committee,

For more information or to register as a participant, contact Dale Freudenberger at dalefreud@gmail.com or 610-597-6722. For general Information, list of all open businesses, and a map, visit the web at www.tamaquachamber/railfest.