Published: October 18, 2009 11:29 pm      

Whistlestop Weekend arrives Nov. 6-7

The 7th Annual Whistlestop Weekend sounds off in downtown Meridian on Friday, Nov. 6 and continues Saturday, Nov. 7 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. each day. Whistlestop Weekend combines two unique festivals into one amazing experience the whole family will enjoy. Best of all, admission is free.

The Meridian Railroad Museum will host Railfest. A variety of railroad memorabilia will be on display along with an operational model railroad and Amtrak will display several pieces of equipment including a locomotive, passenger car, and dining and sleeper cars.

Mississippi Rail Car of Meridian will display two newly refurbished cars that were repaired at the Meridian shop. According to Mick Nussbaum, director of the Meridian Railroad Museum, these cars were involved in a train derailment and are repaired better than before.

Nussbaum said: “They are holding off to paint these cars until closer to the festival, so these cars can really look good. They’ll have representatives on hand with before photos of the wrecked cars.”

The Meridian Railroad Museum is located at 1805 Front Street in the original 100-year-old Railway Express Agency building.

One block away, the Soule’ Live Steam Festival at the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum will be the place to visit to see real operating steam engines on display. Guests can browse the museum’s collection of steam engines, see visiting collector’s engines and hear the sound of whistles blowing off some steam. Debuting last year, the steam demonstration room features a 1905 Watts-Campbell Corliss operating steam engine and an 1870 Manchester steam engine originally restored and operated by the Ford Museum.

Demonstrations will also be taking place throughout the museum. The belt-driven machine shop will be operated by the Industrial Technology students from Meridian Community College. Other demonstrations include blacksmithing, pottery making, knitting, broom making and the operation of an antique print shop. The museum grounds will feature antique tractors and hit-and-miss engines.

One of the highlights of the festival is Alabama Art Casting’s molten iron pour. For $20, visitors can carve their own sand mold and have it cast in iron.

“People are amazed at how these sand molds turn out once they are filled with the molten iron,” according to Greg Hatcher, director of the museum. “This year we worked with the Meridian Museum of Art and the MCC Art Department and were awarded a grant from Mississippi Arts Commission. This grant will make it possible for 50 children to carve molds this year as a way for them to experience something they’ve never seen before.”

Mold making classes for the general public will be held on Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. On Saturday at 2 p.m., Alabama Art Casting will light off the cupola and the iron pour will begin at 3 p.m.

The Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum is located at 402 19th Ave.

There will be plenty of food vendors serving up barbecue plates, fish plates, hamburgers, kettle corn and even steam engine churned ice cream.

This year’s festival key sponsors include, the City of Meridian, Meridian/Lauderdale County Tourism Bureau, Structural Steel Services, Benefits Management Group, Citizens National Bank, Community Bank, Massey Auto, Ralph Morgan Logging, and Sandra Little Agency.



NEED MORE INFO?



For more information, visit www.meridian-railroad-museum.org, www.soulelivesteam.com, or call (601) 482-8001.