Memorial Day weekend figures to bring with it a heavy dose of traffic to Jim Thorpe, and local authorities are preaching patience for anyone coming to town.

“It’s going to be busy,” Police Chief Joe Schatz said. “If you’re coming to town, expect delays, especially Saturday because of the Iron Horse Rambles at the railroad.”

Among the attractions this weekend is the arrival of the T-1 class steam locomotive 2102 via the Reading and Northern Railroad. Leaving from the Reading Outer Station, the train is scheduled to arrive in Jim Thorpe shortly before noon and depart about four hours later.

The locomotive has not seen service since 1991, and its return has been highly anticipated, according to railway officials.

“We have fire police from Penn Forest Township helping out as well as KRE and our own police department will of course be downtown as well,” Schatz said.

The borough contracted with KRE Security for enhanced traffic management control downtown for the final three weekends in May.

Under the proposal, one traffic control employee would be stationed at the Susquehanna Street/Broadway intersection and another at the entrance to the county lot from Route 209 helping with the flow of vehicles.

“It’s been working out well with KRE the past couple of weekends,” Schatz said. “This will of course be our busiest one, but we’re hopeful everything goes smooth.”

The borough has used barricades on weekends to keep vehicles from turning left into the lot in an effort to cut down backlogs on Route 209.

The Jim Thorpe Tourism Agency, in cooperation with Immaculate Conception Parish and Sam Miller Field will be providing additional parking locations over the weekend.

Parking will be available for $20 cash Friday from noon to 6 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Parish, 178 W. Broadway. Visitors can also park at Sam Miller Field, 130 North Avenue in the Heights, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Sam Miller Field location includes a shuttle to the downtown area. The lots will be locked at 9 p.m. and any vehicles still there will be towed at the owner’s expense.