GREENSBORO, N.C. — This year it is a little harder to catch a simple route from Greensboro to perhaps the biggest fall attraction in the state.
For the past few years, Rosa Mcdougal and her sister have taken the train from Greensboro to the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh. The sisters usually buy their tickets two weeks in advance, but this year they ran into some trouble.
"She had been looking, she called me, and she said, 'All of the 8:30 a.m. tickets are sold out for everyday!'" recalled Mcdougal.
To the sisters' surprise all routes for the 8:24 a.m. train to Raleigh, sold out. Instead of going off the rails, Mcdougal phoned a friend.
"I said well, we're not going to go then because I'm not driving down there," she continued, "So, we thought about it and I said you know what, I'm going to call news 2!"
Sometime later, Mcdougal answered to a longtime favorite.
"He said, 'Is this rosa?' and I said, 'And who is this?' And he said, 'This is Ed Matthews from Channel 2!' And I immediately caught the voice. So, he told me about a later train."
Matthews told Mcdougal about the 11:59 a.m. train that still has some open seats. While this route will give the sisters one less hour on fairgrounds, Mcdougal said its more than enough time.
WFMY News 2 asked a rail communications officer with the state, if it was considering adding another train. The spokesperson said Wednesday, it is not planning to add additional trains this year but are always thinking ahead to next year.
WFMY News 2 also went to the train station Tuesday and talked with an Amtrak employee. The employee said the fair tickets usually go on sale around Labor Day. He advised people to check around that time next year to insure they get the ticket they want.