46th annual Railroad Days festivities are on track

NORTH CANAAN — It’s coming in, and arriving ahead of schedule: The 46th annual Railroad Days begins July 8 this year.

The first four days will include, as it did for the first time last year, a carnival of thrill rides, animal rides and games of chance, not to mention cotton candy and caramel apples.

The Commerford Carnival was added to the one-day festival of events last year when the Canaan Fire Company decided to drop its own longstanding fundraiser, traditionally held in June as a separate carnival from Railroad Day festivities.

The weekends, and every day in between, are full of events for all ages, from a silent auction at the library and plentiful dining and shopping opportunities to contests, treasure hunts, a car cruise and the ever-popular prize-filled ping pong ball drop.

The final weekend always brings a downtown packed with people, classic cars and trucks — and the spectacular fireworks display. Not to be missed is the 15th annual Poetry is Music celebration at the Collins Diner.

The railroad theme will get the spotlight with an operating model railroad display, Operation Lifesaver, and Berkshire Limited passenger excursion trains that will run between North Canaan and Great Barrington on July 10, 11 and 18.

Railroad Days chugs down the track on July 11 to the center of Falls Village, where Jacob’s Garage will celebrate its 80th anniversary with a car show, music, prizes and food.

A bonus day, July 24, will bring an encore in the form of the popular Kid’s Night.

Railroad Days is sponsored by the Canaan Chamber of Commerce. Many events are sponsored by local businesses and are free to participants. The chamber always accepts donations to help with the cost of things such as fireworks and sanitation.

Chamber President John Lannen is also working on ways to stay true to Railroad Days’ roots. It has always been sponsored by the chamber, and began in the 1960s simply as August sidewalk sales to help merchants clear out inventory. And so he is encouraging merchants and bargain-hunters to get out there on those downtown sidewalks.

“The excursion train rides will bring a lot of people into town,†Lannen said. “This is really a good opportunity for the town and its businesses, and proceeds from the train rides will help with the restoration of the depot.â€

A schedule that could include new additions right up until the last minute is available at canaanchamber.com. The schedule will also be printed in the July 8 edition of The Lakeville Journal.

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