Ben Kapalka, 4, of Blacksburg, rinses off under the sprinkler at Touch a Truck. He had been playing in the party foam put out by Salem's Fort Lewis Volunteer Fire Department.

Photos by REBECCA BARNETT The Roanoke Times

Sidney Thwaites, 3, of Narrows, and his brother, Brady, 1, wave "goodbye" to a helicopter from the shoulders of their parents, Eric and Natalie Thwaites on Saturday at Green Hill Park. The helicopter was on display for a few hours at Touch a Truck.

"Granny, you gotta come in this," Regan Paris, 4, of Roanoke County, said to her grandmother. "It's like cotton candy." Regan played in party foam put out by the Fort Lewis Fire Department.

Photos by REBECCA BARNETT The Roanoke Times

Trace Poindexter, 5, of Vinton, swings on a band held by a Botetourt Towing and Recovery truck at Touch a Truck in Roanoke County's Green Hill Park on Saturday. "It was really fun," said Trace, who said he really enjoyed swinging high up off the ground.

The number of trucks and tractors and cranes and motorcycles out at Roanoke County's Green Hill Park Saturday was large, but most likely finite.

But it was hard to tell for sure amid the rows upon rows upon rows of vehicles of all shapes and sizes, the sudden blasts of horns and bells and sirens, the sensory near-overload that was the county's second annual Touch a Truck extravaganza.

Touch a Truck, as its name implies, is a hands-on celebration of the eternal fascination that kids (and their parents) have for machines that go fast, or dig deep, or move heavy things, or just make a lot of noise. Look, a cement mixer! An armored car! A helicopter!

Buses and cars and at least one boat had been brought by organizations and individuals from across the region. Some were apparently brand new, others seemingly just off a job site. At each crane or bulldozer or taxi, someone stood by to explain how something worked and to try to keep anyone from toppling out of a cockpit or off a hood.

A crowd estimated by event coordinator Wendi Schultz at 6,000 to 8,000 people turned out to get a closer look at the collection -- and to check out other attractions that ranged from goats to snacks to a wooden-model-building tent.

"I wasn't expecting this. ... This is way humongous," said Meredith Kapalka of Blacksburg, who was escorting three wide-eyed children from one set of wheels to another. Kapalka said her trio had been climbing into and crawling over vehicles all morning. Now 7-year-old Janie Kapalka was hoping to lift the one-honk limit her mother had set for sounding the vehicles' horns.

"Mom is going to be deaf," Meredith Kapalka said, shaking her head and laughing.

Close by, Doug Gimbert of Roanoke kept an eye on children clambering in and out of a mini-excavator and a rubber track skid loader he'd brought from Roanoke-based Big Mountain Equipment. Parked facing one other, each vehicle had a mechanized arm that rested on a large boulder.

"You'd be surprised how many people come by and tap on that rock and ask if it's real," Gimbert said, chuckling. "Bump your head on it and see if it's real."

Gimbert's brother and sister-in-law, Ben and Elizabeth Gimbert of Troutville, were across the park with the cockpit and nose of a 1963 F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber jet.

Ben Gimbert bought the partial plane in Arizona -- the military had recycled the rest of the aircraft, his wife explained -- and restored it. Now they take it to 15 to 20 events every year. A long line waited to climb into the pilot's seat, don a helmet, and flash an aviator's grin for a digital camera run by the Gimberts' son, Sean, 19. Usually the Gimberts charge for such photos, but on Saturday, participants could carry them away on a compact disc, free.

At a race car, 7-year-old Jillian McClure emerged from the driver's seat to report, "It smells like smelly pits."

At an enclosure that firefighters from Fort Lewis' volunteer department filled with giant mounds of foamy suds, Regan Paris, 4, called to her grandmother, "You've got to come in this! It's like cotton candy!"

Ashley Lyle, 27, of Roanoke had strategically positioned herself between the foam enclosure and a sprinkler station where children could rinse off. Her stepdaughter Olivia, 12, lurched toward her like a foam-covered zombie. "Help me!" she called.

"As long as they have fun, I have fun," Ashley Lyle said.

Just past the Little Critters Traveling Petting Zoo, where throngs of children examined a miniature donkey, rabbits, guinea pigs and more, other children applied paint to a donated car at the county-run Creation Station. Their parents watched, perhaps nervously.

"The uniform comment from parents is 'Don't do this at home,' " said David Watt of Salem, the jovial volunteer overseeing a paint job that had covered the car's windshield and windows.

Seth Braaten, 4, emerged from an antique fire truck and declared it to be cool. But he said his favorite among all the vehicles he's seen Saturday was a John Deere tractor.

"What could we pull with it?" asked his father, Adam Braaten of Roanoke.

"A truck!" Seth answered.

Staff photographer Rebecca Barnett contributed to this article.