In this episode we feature two stories of historic restorations. They standout among restoration stories because of the extraordinary circumstance involved and the many community members who worked together for years to make it all happen. 

First you will hear about perfectly restored carousel in Pottstown PA. A labor of love that has lasted nearly 15 years has resulted in a world class attraction and a lot of community pride. After reading about the Pottstown carousel in Preservation magazine, writer Stephanie Kalina-Metzger realized something special about this particular restoration project.

Stephanie did a lot of research and spoke at length with Alain McBain, one of the many volunteers involved with the carousel. She describes for us how they recreated the carousel from the ground up.

We also share with you the incredible story of the East Broad Top Railroad in Huntingdon County. Writer Darrin Youker, tells us about this railroad restoration project happening in our region. Thanks to one family and a lot of volunteers, over 30 miles of history has been preserved.

Jonathan Smith, the director of sales and marketing of this very special excursion train, grew up in Colorado, and from the age of 11 has volunteered and worked on the tourist train that went right past his house. Once he learned about the East Broad Top Railroad in Central Pennsylvania, his dream was to be part of the full restoration project.  He tells us, “The East Broad Top is sort of a  mythical thing in the railroad industry, untouched representation of industrial America. 

As the world opens up after the long Pandemic lock down, I will share with you highlights of  special events happening this summer in the Susquehanna Valley. And with people heading back to restaurants, we feature one that not only offers fine food but their own craft beer.

Susquehanna Life Out Loud is the companion podcast to Susquehanna Life Magazine. You will find a full transcript of this episode and listings of previous episodes on our show notes page. You can hear our podcast on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and Stitcher Radio. All the music we use on the show is licensed via Epidemic Sound. Let us know where you hear podcasts, and we will submit our show to that platform.

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