Well, this past weekend was American Steam Railroad's first fundraiser, and to say the least, it was successful. It was held at the Hocking Valley Scenic RR in Nelsonville, Ohio where we sponsored a total of five dedicated trips on the line as well as have a share of the seats on the two regularly scheduled trains on Saturday and Sunday. The HVSR is a really neat tourist railroad about an hour south and east of Columbus in the Hocking Hills and should be on everyone's list of railroads to ride if you haven't been there already. The line has a great branchline feel to it. Overall we sold just over 600 tickets for the weekend and made many new friends. Many, many thanks go to Jason Oliver, the HVSR Special Events committee for taking a chance on us and their very dedicated team of volunteers that helped make this weekend possible for our group. Also, many thanks to the support of those here on RYPN too, for buying tickets as well.

Next up is a very special weekend on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic RR on July 24 and 25. Find out more by following the link to www.americansteamrailroad.org/excursions-events.aspx. On these trips, you will be able to take part in the first-ever tour offered by the railroad of their Fitzwater Maintenance Yard complex. Our train will depart the Akron Northside station at 11:30AM each day. Don't miss out on the chance to ride behind matching vintage FPA-4's, ride on a dome car in the beautiful and scenic Cuyahoga Valley or even ride in the St. Lucie Sound observation car.

Also, watch our website for pictures of this weekend's goings on and also an announcement about an unexpected restoration project we will be starting a little later this year.

Sincerely,

Rob Gardner
Chief Engineer