Tweetsie Railroad stays on track
Watauga County commissioners agree to a $3 million deal that will keep the Tweetsie Railroad running, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.
Tweetsie holds special meaning in my wife's family because her grandfather drove the train back in the early days of the park. She made many childhood visits to the mountain attraction -- and the younger generations of her family have become well acquainted with its charms as well.
It's become quite an institution, apparently worth a $3 million boost by the local government. Plans call for Tweetsie to pay back the money.
In addition, the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority (no Web site?), supported by a hotel/motel occupancy tax, will spend $1.1 million promoting Tweetsie and other visitor destinations.
Although the park's Old West theme is a stretch for North Carolina, I'm glad the historic steam engine will keep chugging along. The park provides a nice setting for a fun family outing.
Comments (8)
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Tweetsie Railroad really needs to diversify itself if it has any long-term plans for success. They cannot just maintain the cutesy Thomas the Tank Engine thing they have going on now and catering solely to young children.
Sure, that makes them a great venue for 3rd grade field trips, but does nothing for luring tourists from Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia... or even most of North Carolina. To be truly successful, they need to mature into a true theme park - they can maintain the railroad/Old West theme, but expand it to become a Carowinds-like amusement park. They are able to charge around $50 for daily admission now, Tweetsie is completely missing the boat if they don't follow suit. It could help make the mountains/Maggie Valley more of a desireable vacation destination.
Posted on May 21, 2008 10:01 AM
Tweetsie is a great place for clean, family fun. This park has seen 2 generations of my family. We recently took my 2 year old son there to ride Tweetsie and he loved every minute of it. He makes the 3rd generation to visit the park. Thanks to Watauga County for keeping this park here so that more generations will enjoy riding the train and seeing the cowboys and indians.
Posted on May 21, 2008 10:06 AM
Sensei, Maggie Valley has its own:
Ghost Town in the Sky
http://www.ghosttowninthesky.com/
Brittany, My experience was that Tweetsie was much more suitable for 2-year-olds than are Carowind-type amusement parks.
Posted on May 21, 2008 10:34 AM
Doug - can't believe I forgot about Ghost Town in the Sky! I suppose with that park already nearby it wouldn't make much sense for Tweetsie to expand to attract that clientele.
Posted on May 21, 2008 11:50 AM
Watauga County commissioners agree to a $3 million deal that will keep the Tweetsie Railroad running* Doug
Classic local State Fascism at work here. What's next? Watauga bailing out AMTRAC out, After the Chinese Peoples Government refuses to Fund AMTRAC, when the federal government goes totaly broke.
Posted on May 21, 2008 12:44 PM
But Connie, don't forget, the county taxpayers will be paid back, the commissionsers promised!
Posted on May 21, 2008 1:34 PM
Actually, that would be a long train ride from Tweetsie in Watauga County to Ghost Town in Haywood County.
Posted on May 21, 2008 1:47 PM
tonymo said:
But Connie, don't forget, the county taxpayers will be paid back, the commissionsers promised
I agree! They will be given a free Trailways Bus ticket to the Cherokee Casios after the county defaults on the Railroad debt. My history might be fuzzy here on Railroads, but in the 18 th century, I believe the Indians ended owning the railroad right-aways after the Railroads went bankrupt a 100 years later.
Posted on May 21, 2008 6:00 PM