Late Nights: A Celebration of Trains with Live Bluegrass

Celebrate the power and beauty of trains this Late Night with an informative talk and live bluegrass music!

In conjunction with the new exhibition In Awe of the Iron Horse: Trains in the Collection of David R. and Susan S. Goode, historian Ken Miller, president of the Norfolk & Western Historical Society, will give a talk at 6:30 pm about one of our community’s favorite – and most iconic – modes of transportation.

The Brothers Young will transport audiences back in time to the original beginnings of bluegrass with their performance this evening. They are a brother duo playing traditional bluegrass music by Flatt & Scruggs, Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, Osborne Brothers & others. They blend traditional bluegrass with energy of a new generation that will satisfy all ages. You may recognize them from other performances at Merlefest, Bristol Rhythm & Roots, and more!

This event is free and welcoming to all, though registration is encouraged for the talk.

Talk: 6:30-7:30 pm
Bluegrass Performance: 6-8 pm

About In Awe of the Iron Horse:

In Awe of the Iron Horse: Trains in the Collection of David R. and Susan S. Goode features a selection of photographs and prints from the collection of David R. and Susan S. Goode that seeks to rekindle the sense of awe that trains once evoked.

Trains and the railroad system represent a technological advance that changed the social, environmental, and economic landscape across the globe.

This exhibition invites visitors to view trains through the lens of the “technological sublime,” a concept that situates trains as objects of awe on the same level as wonders of nature. The “sublime” is a beauty so incredible and incomprehensible that it provokes equal parts wonderment and anxiety.

In Awe of the Iron Horse encourages viewers to reach back through time, before trains were a part of everyday life, to imagine the feelings of otherworldliness this technology once conjured.