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The Arcade & Attica Railroad
celebrated its 50th anniversary as a steam engine excursion train the summer of 2012. Saturday, August 4, 1962 was the day
of the original Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with Richard Cartwright, President & General Manager of the A&A; Len Connelly,
President of the Arcade Chamber of Commerce; John Bailey, Mayor of the Village of Arcade; Emmett “Bud”
King, Engineer; Howard Hopkins, Conductor; Cecil “Zeke” Lester, Brakeman and Don King, Fireman participating.
Fifty years later, August 4 fell on a Saturday once again, and the ribbon cutting ceremony was re-enacted by Len Connelly
and descendants of the other ceremony participants. From the start, the train drew people to Arcade in large numbers: 17,000 rode the train in the first 17 days it was
in operation and 45,000 rode it in the next year—children were not included in these early counts, so the actual number
is, in fact, much higher. 1.3 million have ridden the train over the course of the last 50 years. The Arcade Historical Society and Friends of the Arcade & Attica
came together to celebrate this “economic engine” with an exhibit first shown at the old Fire Hall and then at
the Gibby House. The exhibit featured items from the 50 years of the A&A—photographs, postcards, A&A souvenirs—
and general RR artifacts as well as memorabilia and newspaper clippings from “the way we were” in 1962. It was
a great success thanks to our volunteers and the private collectors who loaned their collections for the exhibit. Happy
Anniversary, A&A - here's to 50 more years!
See photographs of the exhibit on the EVENTS page.
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