The Ghost Train puts a scare into passengers on October weekends
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad has a Great Pumpkin theme ride, but Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock has the corner on bone-rattling Halloween trains.
This is the 16th season Tweetsie offers the Ghost Train, with ghouls and goblins populating the grounds, its engine and five passenger cars.
Ghost Train rides are offered 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 28.
From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays through Sundays through Oct. 29, the Tweetsie attraction on U.S. 321, between Blowing Rock and Boone, offers its standard, separate-admission Wild West show. On nights the Ghost Train rolls, 100 staffers re-costume themselves for maximum spooky effect. The actual ride -- three miles around the property's mountain -- takes about 20 minutes.
On the ghost-ified 200-acre grounds are trick-or-treat stations where kids receive candy or other goodies; the Haunted Palace Saloon (the Wild West Saloon, by day) features the Tweetsie Palace Spooktacular show. The Creepy Carnival -- near the top of the mountain -- has costumed staffers manning Tweetsie's various rides.
New this year: the 3-D Maze.
Advance ticket prices are strongly recommended. A list of nearby lodgings is on the Tweetsie Web site.
Ghost Train
WAYS & MEANS
Daytime (Wild West Show) admission: $27; $19 for ages 3-12; 2 and younger, free.Ghost Train admission: $23; 2 and younger, free.
GETTING THERE
From Charlotte, take Interstate 85 South to Gastonia, take U.S. 321 North to Blowing Rock; continue on U.S. 321 North (towards Boone) to Tweetsie Railroad. The drive is about 96 miles (two hours), one way.
RESOURCES
877-893-3874; www.tweetsie.com
Area info (food, lodging, etc.) High Country Host, 800-438-7500; www.highcountry host.com.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/l ... 652369.htm
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