I took part, in one way or another, in every one of the "original" Winter Spectaculars, from the first one-day event in 1966 through the last one in 1981. They were truly a great time. For several years, I led tours of the EBT shops and the ruins of the iron furnace and coke ovens, and I also helped schedule train operations for a couple of years. During that period, we enjoyed all sorts of weather and temperatures, including rain, a blizzard, 18 below zero one year and 60 above another. It was all so much fun, and I met a lot of really great folks, some of whom I still am in touch with 50 years later! Of all the railfan events I ever attended, I think the Winter Spectaculars were the best.