More than 40 railroad motor cars from all over the United States will be stopping in Albert Lea Sunday for lunch during part of a 100th anniversary celebration of Fairmont Railway Motors Inc., now Harsco Track Technologies.

The celebration will begin Friday with a dinner, speaker and festivities in Fairmont and on Saturday will include a display of about 45 North American Rail Car Operators Association motorcars during an open house at the Harsco facility in Fairmont.

The 45 restored cars were originally built at the Fairmont plant and shipped to railroads around the United States and Canada.

The celebration culminates Sunday with a 120-mile motor car excursion on the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad (now Canadian Pacific-owned) from Fairmont to Albert Lea and back.

The excursion will go from Fairmont and travel east through Granada, Huntley, Winnebago, Delevan, Easton, Wells, Baroda, Alden, Armstrong and Albert Lea.

A mid-morning stop will be in Delevan and the lunch break will be in Albert Lea between noon and 2 p.m. on Sunday in the parking lot across from Lou-Rich.

After lunch, the motor cars will leave Albert Lea and return west to Fairmont following the same route.

Hal Johnson, Area 6 director for the North American Rail Car Operators Association, said the event will be a good opportunity for people to take pictures, either while the cars are moving, or while they are stopped in Albert Lea.

The railcars will not be able to be stopped while in route for tours, but there is a possibility to tour the cars once they’re stationary in Albert Lea, Johnson said.

He encouraged people to line the railroad along the excursion path to take pictures.

He said the event will be held rain or shine.

It will include 90 North American Rail Car Operators Association members and their guests from 14 states and one province in Canada, he pointed out.

Fairmont Railway Motors was founded in 1909 as Fairmont Gas Engine & Railway Motor Car Co. At that time, the company began building a variety of gasoline-powered motor cars to replace the pump car.

By 1949, the company was renamed as Fairmont Railway Motors Co., offering 19 models of motor cars to customers.

In 1979, Fairmont Railway Motors was acquired by the Harsco Corporation, and it became part of Harsco Track Technologies. The last of a total of nearly 73,000 Fairmont motor cars was manufactured in 1991, according to a news release.