Watauga County- Tweetsie Railroad is a fixture in the North Carolina mountains. 

Tweetsie started off as an excursion train ride and soon evolved into a theme park. 

Train engineer Scott McLeod says that they are a direct link to the past. Tweetsie includes the actual engine and tracks from the original rail line that once “ran from Johnson City, Tennessee to Boone, North Carolina every day from about 1919 to 1940," according to Tweetsie Railroad President Chris Robbins.

Tweetsie has been around for almost 60 years and visitors of the park say that climbing onto the train is still the highlight of their trip. 

Many staff members and visitors have been coming to the park since they were very young. Some say that they plan on bringing their children and grandchildren to experience Tweetsie themselves. 

Tweetsie is an authentic connection to the past. Robbins says, "you want to advance. You want to add new things, new rides, new attractions, but you don't want to mess with what makes Tweetsie what it is."