SCRANTON, PA — For the first time since 2019, Steamtown National Historic Site’s Railfest returns on Labor Day weekend, Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1. The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days.

General admission to the park and event is free. Train rides cost $6 for ages six and up, and $1 for children from birth to age five. Payment is by credit card only. 

Railfest celebrates railroading’s past, present and future with train rides, special demonstrations, exhibits, visiting rail equipment, musical entertainment, ranger programs and a host of activities and displays offered by community partners.

Railroading experiences are on offer, as are guided tours of the former Lackawanna Railroad Station (today’s Radisson Hotel). 

Tickets are limited for the Radisson Tour option and must be reserved in advance at www.recreation.gov/ticket/facility/10088803.  All other tickets are available on a walk-up, first-come, first-served basis at the tickets and information booth within the park.

On Saturday, riders can take a short train ride with the option to disembark and photograph the steam engine as it does a couple of run-bys.

On both days, visitors can ride on maintenance-of-way equipment, including a velocipede, a pump handcar and New Jersey Trackcar railroad speeders. The locomotive shops will be open for visiting, with demonstrations of the drop table, the “ring of fire,” and other railcar preservation and maintenance machinery. 

Cab tours of the Big Boy locomotive, displays of model train layouts and demonstrations of the Amtrak K-9 unit will also take place throughout the event.

The park will host several pieces of visiting equipment from the Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad, including the Nickel Plate PA-190 locomotive, the City of Lima sleeper car and the Lehigh Valley No. 414 diesel locomotive coupled with the park’s Lehigh Valley No. 353 Black Diamond private business car. 

Community partners will have displays, demonstrations and activities that highlight the cultural, historical, civic and natural stories of the railroads, Scranton and the Lackawanna Valley.

For a complete schedule of activities, programs, rides and entertainment, visit www.nps.gov/Steamtown. Train rides and activities may be subject to cancellation due to inclement weather, crew availability or mechanical issues. Connect with the park @SteamtownNHS on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For general park information, call 570/445-1898.