Cowboy exploits on the silver screen began appearing just about the same time as the demise of actual cattle drives and vaudeville wild west shows. The midcentury mania for cowboy heroes came into its own with the affordable access of television in the home.

What baby boomer didn’t grow up sporting cowboy or cowgirl duds as they watched their favorite cowboys on television and at the movies? Even today, cowboy culture continues to thrive in film, television and music, mixing history, storytelling, fantasy and fact that symbolize American independence and freedom.

Pennsylvania Cowboy Weekend Oct. 11 and 12 in New Freedom (York County) is a day trip to another era. Cowpokes of all ages experience one of the best, most exciting cowboy life immersion experiences east of the Mississippi River. The event offers a trifecta of adventures – a Wild West Express train excursion, an authentic Cowboy Camp, and a Cowboy Carnival.

The Wild West Express of the Northern Central Railway has a rich and important history, including presidential journeys and Civil War service. In 1863, the Northern Central carried Abraham Lincoln on a leg of his journey to deliver the Gettysburg Address. In 1865, the NCR carried Lincoln’s funeral train, which stopped in York before continuing on.

Pennsylvania Cowboy Weekend excursions on the NCR feature reenactors portraying outlaws lawmen, civilians and train personnel, interacting with the passengers. Mounted cowboys on horseback turn out to be bad guys, who stop the train so that outlaws can disembark with the train payroll strongbox and mailbags, after locking the train personnel and guards in the baggage compartment. Once they escape into the nearby field, the outlaws divvy up the loot as the guards and lawmen escape from the baggage car. An epic movie-worthy “shootout” in the meadow usually results in the good guys prevailing and restoring the money to its rightful owners. Usually…

On-train interaction continues with banter with the actors, a fake robbery of faux money and jewelry, which get distributed early in the journey. And then there are the “real robberies,” for cold, hard cash. Cash collections during Pennsylvania Cowboy Weekend are designated for the completion of the rebuild of iconic steam engine #17, currently in progress and expected to be completed by December.

Marty Moyle, of Bethlehem, and a Moravian University retiree, is the shady lady robber who relieves passengers of cash during the charity robberies, which vary during the season, and include animal rescue, veterans groups, cancer research and support, and more. Moyle is a member of the reenacting groups The Society of Wild West Reenactors, and also, Outlaws and Peacemakers, and got her start as a robber with The Nightingale Gang, an all-female mob that robbed the Wells Fargo office during a scenario at a wild west event at Old Bedford Village in western Pennsylvania.

She was drawn into Wild West reenacting by a friend she had met while participating with The Sons of the Waves Pyrate Reenactors in recreating American maritime history, the Golden Age of Piracy, and daily life in the 17th and 18th centuries.

“Most reenactors seem to do more than one time period, bringing those histories to life, and are always open to trying something new,” she says.

She has also portrayed a war correspondent at Reading’s World War II Weekend, and several nonhistorical characters, including Professor Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter.

“It’s a perfect hobby for me, being somewhat of a history geek and theatrical geek,” she says. “Plus, I can indulge my other hobby of costume creation. I make nearly all of my historic garments.”

Moyle has also created period props and orchestrated Temperance and Votes for Women rallies at wild west events.

Pennsylvania Cowboy Weekend isn’t limited to the Wild West Express train excursions. Just a few hundred yards away, an authentic old west cowboy camp is open for exploration. The camp is on the shady grounds of the Summit Grove Camp and Conference Center. Continuous free shuttles run from the train station to the free cowboy camp to the free parking area.

In the cowboy camp you can find a cowboy town with displays of cowboy life, trick shooting performances, skits and scenarios, a period photographer, a casino where kids can play and win prizes, period music, trick roping, a chuck wagon, a Sunday morning open-air church service and much more.

Visitors ask questions about everything, get sworn in as a deputy at the marshal’s office, check out what is on the campfires for dinner, visit the horse picket line at the OK Corral when the horses are resting, get their pictures taken with the reenactors, and watch safety demonstrations. They might even run into characters such as Jesse James, Calamity Jane, Mark Twain and Cole Younger!

A number of volunteer reenacting groups come together to present this event. Outlaws and Peacemakers, the Mason/Dixon Cowboys with their horses, The Society of Wild West Reenactors, Black Hills Associators, Texas Rangers, the Reyes Family, The Sons of Erin and The Marshals.

The Marshals have a very specific and important set of duties. Most come from a law enforcement and/or military background and therefore oversee spectator and reenactor safety during scenarios.

They also enforce muzzle awareness, and inspect all firearms and ammo blanks to assure safety compliance. They also swear in junior deputies and organize a children’s posse whenever needed.

Vince Condello, a Moravian University employee who lives in Forks Township, steps into both the good guy and bad guy roles, as a member of both Outlaws and Peacemakers, and The Society of Wild West Reenactors.

A baby boomer growing up with all the television and movie westerns, meant that cowboy culture was ingrained in him. “The Lone Ranger,” “Rawhide,” “Gunsmoke,” and John Wayne were all part of his childhood.

“We lived next door to my aunt and uncle,” he says. “My uncle, who was a jack-of-all-trades, built a complete western town that spanned both backyards. All the neighborhood kids loved to come and play there.”

As an adult, Condello participated in Revolutionary War reenactment for 12 years, then did stints in English Civil War portrayal, as a renaissance faire performer and street clown. Condello remembers how much he loved the cowboys of his youth, and how he began his own western reenacting group where he portrayed a character named Four-eyed Jack. Eventually, as members attritioned out due to age or health, the group disbanded. He then moved into his present-day affiliation, which has taken him to Pennsylvania Cowboy Weekend, Wild West Weekend at Old Bedford Village and Jacobsburg Historical Society’s Wild West event.

“It’s the most fun I have,” he says. “Everyone is so welcoming.”

For more information, visit northerncentralrailway.com/pa-cowboy-weekend/