Hoop-skirted ladies and bearded men on the streets of Ludlow, Ky., helped give an authentic touch to a week-long centennial celebration that started on June 28.

Ludlow -thanks to Southern Railway - also had a train to match the city's 19th century mood.

Cooperating in the observance of the city's hundredth birthday, Southern sent its full-size replicas of the locomotive "Best Friend of Charleston" and two passenger cars of the "Best Friend" era to Ludlow.

The rush of youngsters to climb aboard was a many-times repeated scene during the three days of the "Best Friend's" attendance at Ludlow, Ky,'s l00 th birthday celebration.

For three days - from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. -the train ran with never an empty seat. Almost 5,000 Ludlow citizens and centennial visitors thronged to Southern's depot during that time to climb aboard the open cars and sample the brand of train travel that ushered in the railroad era much more than a century ago.

Enthusiasm for a ride on the little train was not limited by age, but, as might be expected, ran highest among the children. They frolicked at the edges of the waiting line and were often restrained with difficulty by their parents from rushing out to meet the "Best Friend" as it chugged back from its half-mile jaunt down the excursion track.

As soon as the last passengers from the previous trip nad cleared the car steps, youngsters sprinted with a "school's out" rush to climb aboard the cars. They cheered and waved as the train began to move and puffed on out of sight around a' curve. When the trip was over, many posed beside the little engine for Dad's camera while another group of eager passengers boarded the cars.

For many this was the first train ride -made, appropriately enough, aboard a replica of the country's first steam-locomotive-powered train. The holiday atmosphere of the waiting line recalled in a way that of a festive December morning 134 years ago when crowds gathered at Line Street in Charleston, S. C., to see and ride the original "Best Friend."

On arrival at Cincinnati, the "Best Friend of Charleston" and its cars were unloaded at Gest Street Yard

From souvenir leaflets Southern distributed, the riders learned the story of the little locomotive and the transportation trail it blazed toward yesterday's steam giants and today's diesels. They discovered, too, how this full-scale model was built in Southern's shops in 1928, from copies of the original drawings, to aid in celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, Southern Railway's earliest predecessor line.

In the years since, the "Best Friend's" bottle-shaped boiler and open-sided cars have been a feature attraction at dozens of centennial celebrations in cities throughout the South.

Southern's "train from yesterday" provided a sharp contrast to today's diesel-powered freight and passenger trains as they passed the exhibit area.

For the Ludlow centennial, as for the others, the "Best Friend" was taken carefully from its permanent display track ( at the Chattanooga, Tenn., Terminal Station) and hoisted aboard flat cars for the trip to the centennial site. At Gest Street Yard in Cincinnati the locomotive and cars were set off by overhead crane onto their own wheels. To the amazement of passersby near the railroad bridge across the Ohio River, a very solid ghost out of the past was soon rolling across the bridge toward Ludlow depot on the Kentucky side of the river.

Trainload by trainload, the centennial celebrators traveled a half-mile down the track and then made the return trip to the station in reverse.

The "Best Friend" began its Ludlow runs at 10:30 a.m. on June 30. The first day's crowd exceeded a thousand, and would have been more except for a cloudburst in mid-afternoon that washed out the rest of the day's schedule.

A couple of young train travelers pose beside the "Best Friend" so Dad can get a picture. Many youngsters were having their first train ride.

Newspaper stories, television news shows and first- day passengers spread the word of the little train at Ludlow. On July 1 more than 1,500 people made a trip on the "Best Friend" a part of their day at the centennial.

Before the engine puffed to a stop in the late afternoon of July 2, more than 2,000 passengers had streamed on and off the two little cars during the day and it was generally agreed that the train had added variety and color to Ludlow's hundredth birthday party