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<p>SCRANTON &#8212; Tommy Parker is courtesy personified.</p><p>He has eight years of service with the National Park Service and, while in the midst of helping visitors celebrate the centennial of the National Park System in America, Parker was trying very hard to point people in the right direction at the Steamtown National Historic Site.</p><p>&#8220;Yes, most the of exhibits are free today. We&#8217;re celebrating our 100th anniversary,&#8221; Parker tells a group of tourists. &#8220;The only charge is $5 per person for a train ride through Nay Aug Gorge. Children under 6 are free.&#8221;</p><p>Parker works as a park ranger at the steam locomotive-themed park in Scranton after serving a tour at Cape Lookout in North Carolina.</p><p>A large number of people visiting Steamtown this Sunday were either from New Jersey or the metropolitan area of New York. &#8220;They stop on their way through,&#8221; Parker said, &#8220;because they are curious about railroads and they want to see the exhibits and take the kids on a train ride.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Saturday and Sunday are our biggest days,&#8221; Parker&#8217;s colleague, Chris Brandt, who hails from Danville said. &#8220;It gets a little hectic, but we&#8217;re here to help.&#8221;</p><p>Brandt said he is in his first year with the National Park Service. He came from Allegheny National Park near Altoona and holds a degree in geography and computer mapping from Lock Haven University. Brandt said an interest in railroading, as well as being a regional native, figured in his securing a job with the park service in Scranton.</p><p>Brandt&#8217;s father is also well-known regionally as the 30-year coach of track and cross-country at Danville High School.</p><p>Parker hails from a more distant state: New Mexico. He said he holds two degrees from Eastern New Mexico University: one is television and broadcast journalism and the other in television communications. Parker said his background helps in communicating with a diverse range of people who for the most part are just curious about Steamtown and are just looking for assistance.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s my job,&#8221; Parker said. &#8220;I&#8217;m here to help.&#8221;</p><p>Yeluda Dwarkin, a tourist from Lakewood, N.J., said he brought his entire family to Steamtown on Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;The kids love it,&#8221; Dwarkin said. &#8220;We come here often when we&#8217;re back in Scranton.&#8221;</p><p>Dwarkin, who is now an instructor in Jewish law, attended school in Scranton. And his wife, the former Chayl Fink, is a native of the Lackawanna County city.</p><p>While greeting and directing tourists on Sunday, Parker touched on &#8220;Railfest 2016,&#8221; which is scheduled as a two-day event, Saturday and Sunday, over the Labor Day weekend. He described the event as a celebration of railroading featuring everything from historic steam equipment to modern diesel engines.</p><p>Barbara Conway, park superintendent, reported that the 2016 observance will be Steamtown&#8217;s 10th since its founding and a major component of the observance will a display of equipment at the roundhouse exhibit.</p><p>Conway said confirmed exhibitors include: The Mount Washington (New Hampshire) Cog Railway and its 150-year-old Peppersass steam engine; the local Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad; the Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society; and an Erie caboose restoration group.</p><p>Entertainment also will be featured, including the Indigo Moon Brass on Saturday and Doug Smith Dixieland All-Stars on Sunday. David Stone is scheduled to perform the Johnny Cash Experience both days.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill Clark, a park ranger at Steamtown, talks with riders on the most recently refurbished locomotive at the park &#8212; the Baldwin. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL082916steamtown1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill Clark, a park ranger at Steamtown, talks with riders on the most recently refurbished locomotive at the park &#8212; the Baldwin. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL082916steamtown3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Visitors to the Steamtown National Historic Site were invited to make and hang a birthday card for the National Park Service to celebrate its 100th anniversary. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL082916steamtown3-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Visitors to the Steamtown National Historic Site were invited to make and hang a birthday card for the National Park Service to celebrate its 100th anniversary. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL082916steamtown4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lester Baldwin, 5, sits with his foster brother, Simon McAndrew, while the family enjoys a ride in a railcar pulled by the recently refurbished Baldwin locomotive. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL082916steamtown4-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Lester Baldwin, 5, sits with his foster brother, Simon McAndrew, while the family enjoys a ride in a railcar pulled by the recently refurbished Baldwin locomotive. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL082916steamtown5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kenny Chen and Ryan Chen, 6, check out the trains in the roundhouse. Members of the Chen family, from New Jersey, are working to visit as many of the national park sites as they can, as Ryan collects a different patch for his vest and hat at each national park. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL082916steamtown5-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Kenny Chen and Ryan Chen, 6, check out the trains in the roundhouse. Members of the Chen family, from New Jersey, are working to visit as many of the national park sites as they can, as Ryan collects a different patch for his vest and hat at each national park. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL082916steamtown2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">David and Nate Fish, 6 and 11, respectively, pull a cord to ring the bell on a train in the Steamtown National Historic Site on Sunday, one of the &#8220;Fee-Free Days at Steamtown&#8221; this past weekend to celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. The family from Minnesota was in town over the weekend to visit with local family. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL082916steamtown2-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>David and Nate Fish, 6 and 11, respectively, pull a cord to ring the bell on a train in the Steamtown National Historic Site on Sunday, one of the &#8220;Fee-Free Days at Steamtown&#8221; this past weekend to celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. The family from Minnesota was in town over the weekend to visit with local family. </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Event marks centennialof National Park Service</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Tom Huntington</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> Railfest 2016</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Steamtown National Historic Site, Cliff Street, Scranton</p><p><strong>Admission:</strong> $7 for adults; children 15 and under are free. A train ride to Moscow and back is $24 for adults, $22 for senior citizens and $17 for children. Yard shuttle rides are $5 for ages 6 and older. Learn more <a href="http://tlgets.me/jvj" target="_blank">www.nps.gov/stea</a>.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach the Times Leader newroom at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter @TLnews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Steamtown celebrates National Park Service centennial, gears up for Railfest