Does Anyone Recall

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

Riding in a train being pulled by a steam driven locomotive?

 

I had a sudden re-laps into my childhood and I recall riding

in a local milk train that went from my home town to my Grandfathers'

house, about 10 miles away. The train left St. Louis in the morning and

in the evening and ended up in Memphis I believe. The train consisted

of an engine and tender, a boxcar, a mail car, and the caboose. When I would

ride in it with my Grandfather, he would arrange for us to ride in the caboose

with the brakeman and conductor. There was a little pot bellied stove in

the center of the caboose and it heated the car. It was so small it was

called the DINKY.

 

My how that train stimulated the imagination of a 10 year old boy.

[PaleWolf Brunelle, #2495L]

Some years ago, a bunch of outlaws from RUCAS (and a few who'd ridden up from OR) robbed the Chehalis-Centralia RR twice in one day.

After the second run, we all rode to the end of the line & back to where we left our mounts.

 

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

Well, that RUCAS crowd is bad enough, but bring a bunch of outlaws from Oregon and you got TROUBLE.

[PaleWolf Brunelle, #2495L]

Check the link for the RR...they're back in the "short line" business if ya git nostalgic enough to buy a ticket.

Should be a safe enough ride these days...ain't heard of any robberies since that last one.

But that "Murder Mystery" train sounds like it might be kinda strangerous.

 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Riding in a train being pulled by a steam driven locomotive?

 

I had a sudden re-laps into my childhood and I recall riding

in a local milk train that went from my home town to my Grandfathers'

house, about 10 miles away. The train left St. Louis in the morning and

in the evening and ended up in Memphis I believe. The train consisted

of an engine and tender, a boxcar, a mail car, and the caboose. When I would

ride in it with my Grandfather, he would arrange for us to ride in the caboose

with the brakeman and conductor. There was a little pot bellied stove in

the center of the caboose and it heated the car. It was so small it was

called the DINKY.

 

My how that train stimulated the imagination of a 10 year old boy.

One of my earliest memories was riding a steam train with my mother and grandmother from Ogden, Utah to Woodland, Washington in 1946. I was four years old. I got to ride in the engine with the conductor for a bit while they cut in / out some cars.

 

Lots of noise and heat and the train was full of soldiers, sailors, and Marines coming home from the Pacific. I remember they treated Mom and Grandma very nicely and made sure that they were comfortable and not crowded. Some of them played with me. I got to take a nap with a sailor who had crutches stuck in the seat beside him.

 

That trip sort of aimed my life from then on.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

In California's public grammar schools, kids are required to do the "Mission Project" in the fourth grade. They'll research, write a report, and often make a model or diorama of a California mission.

 

When Sassparilla Kid was a fourth grader, in preparation of this assignment, his Ma and I took him to visit two of the historic missions - San Juan Bautista and Carmel (where the recently sainted Junipero Serra is buried); gave him books and helped him begin researching on the internet.

 

So the day the mission assignments were to be given to the students, the Kid comes home and announced that in a rare break with tradition, they were given an opportunity to choose an alternate project - and he decided that, instead of a mission, he was going to do his report and project on the Transcontinental Railroad.

 

Yikes! All that prep, and... off in a different direction!

 

Okay - re-group and hit it!

 

And it turned out so cool...! The Kid's best friend was a classmate, Cody. And it just happens that Cody's grandpa had, many years ago, owned and restored the Sugar Pine Railroad in the Sierras. To this day, it's a fun and successful tourist attraction owned and operated by Cody's uncle. We'd ridden the train, and thought that this might be a terrific opportunity to get some exposure to railroads...

 

A couple of phone calls, and the Kid was invited to interview the owner, Mr Max Stauffer. On the scheduled date I drove the kid to the SPRR for an 0700 appointment with Mr Stauffer. Following his breakfast "interview," Max invited the Kid to take a tour of the shops and rolling stock. And for icing on the cake, the Kid got to join him in one of the Shay locomotives where he helped fire the boiler... and later actually operated it for a short distance. Pretty cool stuff for a nine-year old!

 

The following weekend, I drove the Kid to Sacramento, to visit the California State Railroad Museum - ALWAYS a cool thing.

 

About an hour into our visit, we climbed the steps into the cab of the museum's huge 4-8-8-2 articulated steam locomotive. The engine was manned by a docent... an older gentleman whose attitude seemed to be aloof and bordering on surly. A couple of adult tourists asked simple questions, but his replies were kind of icy.

 

So when the Kid started pointing to various gadgets and gizmos and telling me what they were, the gentleman looked on with some surprise. And when he said "This is pretty cool, Dad! It's a LOT more sophisticated than that Shay I got to drive last weekend!" the old-timer was downright startled.

 

"What? What did you say, kid? You got to operate a Shay locomotive??"

 

The fella's demeanor instantly changed... he was warm, attentive, and watching him engage the Kid with a discussion of steam locomotives was priceless.

Well... the Kid wrote his report, and included anecdotes about his research experiences. For his project he constructed a large display board that even included a gold-painted railroad spike. For what it's worth, he did get an A++ on the combined assignment. And his project ended up on display in the local public library for six months.

 

Steam is SO cool!!

 

 

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

An engine with fire in its belly and steam in its heart, an engine that thrusts hard shouldered against a load and barks steam out the stack and sings with a brass throat, is a living creature an no one can persuade me otherwise.

You can fit any song in the world to that four-count chant and when she's got her ears pinned back and pullin' hard there is no sweeter sound in this world!

I can only imagine being the Kid and running a Shay ... now by golly that one's all right!

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Did you ever ride a cog railway? I see that the Mt Washington Cog has restored their 6 coal first locomotives. Must check the schedule though because they also advertise a bio-diesel

[St. Louis Suomi SASS #31905]

Howdy:

 

Yes I remember riding the steam driven Locomotives. We (Mom and my sisters and I) would catch the Soo Line passenger train that ran through Pembine, Wisconsin to Chicago every now and then. I loved it - the scary part was when the train would pull up to the platform and loose the steam - Whoosh - all over the place. Still loved the train and the unique smell of the engine. Then they switched to diesels - not as exciting - smelling and a different sounding horn on them. I really missed the old train, they ran past my aunties house about 150-200 yds away - I can still hear the whistles - WOOOO WOOOO WOO WOOOOOOOO when they went over the pass over. Somethings are just glued into the memory.

 

Thanks for bringing up the subject, I haven't thought of this pleasant experience in 50 or so years.

 

STL Suomi

[G. I. Tarpicker, SASS #998]

Operating steam locomotives can be found on tourist railroads all over the US and in many foreign countries. Not unlike the shooting sports, the railfan community seems made up largely of us older people. There is a real need to get youngster both in both shooting and railroads before all the old codgers die off and they are lost forever. -- GIT

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

Usually take a ride on the Durango-Silverton and Chama trains at least every other year. Both are really great and fun in their own way.

[Noz]

As I sit at my computer I can see 1/2 mile across the Spring River bottom to what was formerly the main East-West line Of the Frisco Railway.

It now belongs to Burlington Northern. Average of 50+ trains/day use this line.

My father was a brakeman for Frisco and my Grandfather was a railway mail clerk .

I grew up 100 yards from where I now live and have had a close relationship with trains all my life. When I was very small I got a treat of riding with my Grandfather on a steam train a couple of times and have many memories of steamers blowing past.

Some of my favorite childhood memories is of the "gandy dancers" repair crews that would come by every few years and stay in their own pullman cars on a nearby siding. They had to stay there because they were all black and nothing else was open for them. I would crawl through the brush to get near them while they cooked and snag in the evenings. They would slip the hammer and pick heads off of their handles, surround a field and then dance and sing as they closed the circle and clubbed rabbits and jack rabbits for their meals. This would have been in the mid to late 40s.

[Blastmaster]

Operating steam locomotives can be found on tourist railroads all over the US and in many foreign countries. Not unlike the shooting sports, the railfan community seems made up largely of us older people. There is a real need to get youngster both in both shooting and railroads before all the old codgers die off and they are lost forever. -- GIT

A good activity for grandparents to take their grandkids on a summer vacation to ride a steam train. Best to do it when they are in grade school or Junior High grades. Beyond that age...

[Marcus McCain]

The notorious Hammer Clan fills an entire train car every year at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad and Museum at Elbe, Washington for their annual Santa Train.

[PaleWolf Brunelle, #2495L]

The notorious Hammer Clan fills an entire train car every year at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad and Museum at Elbe, Washington for their annual Santa Train.

 

 

A person would be most foolish to attempt robbing THAT train with the Hammers aboard!

 

[largo casey #19191]

When Durango Kid was still around he would set up a shoot & then we would ride the train from Durango to Silverton with all our gear on.. When we would get to Silverton the Mounted shooters from the area would rob the train...

 

Largo

[Blackwater 53393]

Back in the early seventies, I worked for what is now Gaylord Entertainment. They ran Opryland in Nashville. We had two steam locomotives and several miles of track that wound through the park. I rode and worked on those trains for a summer as part of my job. We had open cars and regular cabooses that carried passengers all over the park.

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

I recall how the ground would shake when the train came through. Those things were, like Linn stated above, living things.

We lived on the top of a hill above the river. The rails ran along the river bank on the Illinois side. There was a small switch yard

for the ore trains hauling coal from the strip mines over near Percy, Illinois.

 

Back in the 1940's and '50s, we did not have air conditioning, and in the summer time I would lie abed with the window open, and listen to the engines working in the yard around a mile down the hill. Somehow those sounds wormed their way into my soul.

 

Ahhh, sweet times, Indeed.

[BLACKFOOT SASS #11947]

Back in the middle of the last century (Feb. 1959), I rode a steam train from Seoul to Munsan ni, Korea. It was so cold on that train I thought the passengers were going to break up the seats and build a fire. My uncle Sam Bass and Jessie James used to rob better trains than that one! The ride was courtesy of the U.S. Government. (Well really, Sam didn't rob trains, he specialized in banks.)

 

Blackfooot

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

It has been said that the steam locomotive is the closest man has ever come to creating artificial life.

 

I can believe it.

[Noz]

Do any of you remember the mail hooks at the stations?

[Shawnee McGrutt]

Got to ride in a steam locomotive with my grandfather. The NYC, was getting ready to retire (scrap) it. Is a shame that so many were just cut up for scrap.

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

Do any of you remember the mail hooks at the stations?

Ahhhh, yes.

[Noz]

I recall how the ground would shake when the train came through. Those things were, like Linn stated above, living things.

We lived on the top of a hill above the river. The rails ran along the river bank on the Illinois side. There was a small switch yard

for the ore trains hauling coal from the strip mines over near Percy, Illinois.

 

Back in the 1940's and '50s, we did not have air conditioning, and in the summer time I would lie abed with the window open, and listen to the engines working in the yard around a mile down the hill. Somehow those sounds wormed their way into my soul.

 

Ahhh, sweet times, Indeed.

My Grandfather had a "sleeping porch". 2nd story screened in porch made for the purpose.. We would pull the mattresses off of the beds and drag them to the porch/ Would sleep there unless thunderstorms drove us inside

[Rye Miles #13621]

http://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm

 

My uncle, who passed away 10 years ago was an engineer in Scranton,Pa home of Steamtown USA. After he retired he drove the steam locomotives for Steamtown!

[Three Foot Johnson]

I remember seeing them as a kid, but never traveled on one.

 

I flew out of Anchorage back then a few times on this one though.

 

[Wolfgang, SASS #53480]

Riding behind a steam locomotive was how we went places when I was young. And this year I rode the Steam train over in Virginia City Nv.

 

It was "Calamity Myke's" first steam train ride.

 

I'm hoping to get over to Silverton Durango area next spring . . . . love that area and the TRAIN.

 

But it is too damn cold too much of the time for me to live there. . . . . .

 

http://www.drburkholter.com/cf7.html

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

It has been said that the steam locomotive is the closest man has ever come to creating artificial life.

 

I can believe it.

That's because a steam engine has a sole.

OLG

[Church Key, SASS # 33713]

I grew up in Washington, DC three blocks from the Eckington railroad yard; largest yard east of Chicago.. My mother would wash sheets and hang them in the back yard to dry. Had to shake the soot off them from the steam engines firing up their boilers. The Pullman Car building had its truck entrance on the 4th floor off the T Street bridge. I believe it was the only building in the US like that. Bridge is long gone as the city would not repair it; Pullman owned it.

 

We went from Union Station in DC to Boston on an annual basis. The steam engines just disappeared overnight (it seams) after WWII.

 

During the war, the entire yard would be filled with flat bed cars full of tanks or planes. I still remember that after 70+ years.

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

i remember Union Station in St. Louis, during the war. It was covered with marble inside, with a big

clock over the entrance. I thought it was the grandest place I had ever seen. Full of people going in all

directions.

[Trailrider #896]

I was maybe 1-1/2 to 2 years old when my Dad was stationed at Camp Gruber, OK, with the 42nd Inf (Rainbow) Division. How it occurred I don't remember, but somehow I got to ride in the cab of an MKT steam switcher. It was noisy, and I think I was a little scared, but I don't think I cried. Later, I recall riding with my Mom from Chicago to Quincy, IL, to see her parents, at Christmas-time. I don't remember seeing the locomotive, but I do remember hearing it while we were riding in a Pullman berth. Since most of the passenger trains on the Burlington were pulled by EMD E-7's, E-8's or E-9's, I would assume that either it was due to heavy traffic during the holiday season (this must have been during WWII or just after), or a scheduled "motor" was out of service. Not sure what kind of a steamer this was, but the "Q" tended to run either 4-6-4's or 4-8-4's for high-speed passenger service on the Lines West routes. Those Class O-5's 4-8-4's were huge. There is one on static display at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, CO. Unfortunately, one of the conditions that the Burlington set when they donated #5632 was that it never be restored to operating! The drivers are welded to the rails! But it is BIG! I'm not sure how the crew climbed to the cab, as the bottom of the ladders are about six feet above the ground! These had all-weather cabs. They had big drivers, and were used for both passenger and high-speed freight.

"Every night I listen, and lie awake and wait,

And wish that railroad didn't run so near.

I feel my pulse a-beatin' with that old fast freight,

And wish that I was just a bum again."

[Trailrider #896]

i remember Union Station in St. Louis, during the war. It was covered with marble inside, with a big

clock over the entrance. I thought it was the grandest place I had ever seen. Full of people going in all

directions.

Chicago's Union Station during WWII had aircraft identification models hanging from the ceiling. There was also a kiosk where they were selling toy gyroscopes. Of course, I had to have one. Ah, memories...