Jun 6 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Natalie Best (919) 277-1173 tweetsie@fwv-us.com Kristin Kelly (919) 277-1180 kkelly@fwv-us.com Day Out With Thomas, Purina Incredible Dog Team Return for Tweetsie Railroad’s 2005 Season--Wild West Theme Park Adventure Beginning April 29 Blowing Rock, N.C. (April, 2005) – Thomas the Tank Engine and the Purina Incredible Dog Team headline the special events coming to Tweetsie Railroad's 49th season. Grammy award-winning group Riders In The Sky, the annual Independence Day Fireworks show, and the annual Ghost Train Halloween Festival will complete the bill as Tweetsie welcomes the first guests of the 2005 season on Friday, April 29. Named by Blue Ridge Country magazine as the "Best Place to Take the Kids in the Blue Ridge Mountains," Tweetsie offers an array of live entertainment, rides and other attractions all with a western flare. It’s a daily offering of Wild West Family fun, including meeting cowboys in an Old Western town, exciting amusement rides, lively shows and of course a ride on the famed steam-powered Tweetsie train. Families and people of all ages can enjoy such shows as Hopper and Porter's Train Station Celebration, the imaginative Professor Peppercorn's Amazing Medicine Show, and the toe-tapping Traditions Music Show featuring the Tweetsie Cloggers. Day Out With Thomas will run June 3-12 as Thomas the Tank Engine rolls through the Blue Ridge Mountains. During Thomas' visit, children will have the opportunity to meet and take pictures with Sir Topham Hatt, listen to Thomas and Friends storytelling, and tour Imagination Station. Advance tickets are required, as this event annually sells out. Mark your calendars for the annual Independence Day Fireworks extravaganza Monday, July 4. Tweetsie will light up the Blue Ridge Mountains with an amazing evening of pyrotechnics celebrating America’s birthday. America' favorite cowboys are coming to town. Riders In The Sky returns to Tweetsie July 16-17 bringing audiences a mix of comedy and Western tunes. Shows are at noon and 3 p.m. each day and are included with the regular admission fee. A family-favorite, the Purina Incredible Dog Team will make their second appearance at Tweetsie for nine days July 23-31. These talented pooches have performed on various television shows and public events leaving spectators in amazement. Don't miss the chance to see these canines perform their gravity-defying tricks live before your eyes. Tweetsie’s 49th season will culminate with the award-winning Ghost Train Halloween Festival. Beginning Friday, September 30, ghouls and goblins will invade Tweetsie Railroad on Friday and Saturday nights through Saturday, October 30. The final day of the 2005 season will be Sunday, October 30. Engineer Casey Bones takes control as the Wild West train ride is transformed into the Ghost Train. There is also a haunted house, trick-or-treating and other Halloween-themed attractions providing a memorable night of safe and scary fun for the entire family. Tweetsie Railroad will be open weekends starting April 29, and seven days a week from May 27-August 21 before returning to the weekend schedule from August 26 through October 30. The park's regular hours are 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., but will be open until 9:00 p.m. on July 4 and nightly during the Ghost Train Halloween Festival. Daily admission is $26 for adults and $18 for children ages 3 through 12. Children 2 and under are admitted free. North Carolina’s first theme park opened on July 4, 1957, and is now in its 49th season. The park was a dream of Grover Robbins, Jr. who brought the famed East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Engine Number 12 (known as “Tweetsie” to the local residents) back home to the mountains of North Carolina. Tweetsie Railroad is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains on Highway 321 between Boone and Blowing Rock, North Carolina. For more information about the 2005 season at Tweetsie Railroad, call (800) 526-5740 or (828) 264-9061 or visit www.Tweetsie.com. - End -