Here comes the Pumpkin Patch Express

The Pumpkin Patch Express is rolling into Portola this Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19-20, and again on the weekend of Oct. 26-27 at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum, 700 Western Pacific Way.

The annual event promises Halloween fun for everyone, with a haunted railcar, old west gunfighters, face painting, food vendors, a costume contest on both Saturdays at 8 p.m. and more.

One and all are invited to ride the train to the Pumpkin Patch, with pumpkins at an extra price depending on size or take a locomotive cab ride for $20.

The museum opens at 10 a.m., with trains departing hourly from 1 to 5 p.m.

Night trains will run both Saturdays, departing between 7 and 9 p.m., with the museum closing at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Admission for the event is $10 per carload or $5 with three cans of food for the local EPCAN food bank. A great deal of non-perishable food is donated to EPCAN from the Pumpkin Patch Express, kicking off donations for the holiday season, so event organizers ask that the community remembers to support the local food bank with donations.

For more information, or to volunteer on the Pumpkin Patch Express, visit pumpkin.wplives.org or call WPRM at 832-4532.