PRESS RELEASES

HOUSTONIANS INVITED TO OPERATION CHOO CHOO II
Mayors White, Lanier, Welch To Participate In April 11 Dedication Event

04.05.2006 -- Mayor Bill White will be joined by former mayors Bob Lanier and Louie Welch and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in an April 11 ceremony to welcome Steam Engine 982 to its new home between the George R. Brown Convention Center and Minute Maid Park.

The train engine, Houston's legacy as "the city where 17 railroads meet the seas," was moved to the new location at 600 Avenida de las America last summer. The engine and tender car were relocated from Hermann Park in a painstaking move spearheaded by the Houston Jaycees.

The April 11 dedication event, which is co-sponsored by the Jaycees, the Mayor's Office for Special Events and the City's Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department, is dubbed "Operation Choo Choo II." It is free to the public.

Activities begin at 5 p.m. as Astros mascot Junction Jack welcomes everyone. The Incarnate Word Falcon Dancers and the St. Thomas Jazz Lab Band will perform, while Marble Slab Ice Cream and St. Arnold's Brewery Root Beer will keep the crowd cool.

The "Bells and Whistles" dedication ceremony begins at 6 p.m. and concludes at 6:30 p.m.. White, Lanier and Welch will officially dedicate the train's new home.