I keep reading about proposals for new passenger services, most of which are years from being funded and implemented. In summer '06 Washington state funded more Cascades service and the first run of the new train featured a band, a ribbon cutting and refreshments. Not bad, but not really a party to remember.
In the future if Amtrak wants to kick off new service I hope they'll look back and see how it was done in 1938.
The photo in the link is from the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections photo archive. The event is the inaugural run of the Milwaukee Road's ski train from Seattle to Snoqualmie Pass and the information about the photo says the Franklin High School band performed on skis and
quote:Performing on skis resulted in spills and dents and in one instance the bass drum arriving at the bottom of the hill before the band.