Has anyone ever driven,rode in the cab of, or worked upon a steam locomotive?

Question

I am a railway buff and am a big fan of steam locomotives, especially foreign ones, since they are different than the ones in America, where I live. I would just like to know what the experience of being around , riding, or driving an operational one is like, having never done so myself. (although i'm making plans for it)

Answer 1

It's pretty neat they got an area in durango colorado that gives you a chance to ride one through the mountains and then it ends up in silverton colorado, the ride is so awesome you should check it out just look under durango colorado and train rides(steam) p.s. just be prepared when you do ride one because you will get some suit on you. good luck.

Answer 2

Next time you are in Spencer, North Carolina, visit the North Carolina Transportation Museum.  On the weekend they run steam.  Look for them on the Internet.  I rode it every weekend and I think everyone young and old should do it at least once in their life.  Be careful, it's addictive!  The museum is always looking for volunteers and they will teach you how to run them.  The sound of a steam engine's whistle is music to my ears and makes my heart sing.  Plan your trip before the end of October or you will need to wait until Spring.  The museum is opened year round.  They have a working roundhouse and a working turntable.  For a whole fifty cents you can take a ride on the turntable.  The museum is free.  The train ride is like three dollars.  They are restoring the back shop and might have it finished by now.  The history is too much to go into here, but you can learn more at their website.

Answer 3

Our Alco Mikado, ( Southern Pacific # 786 )  is undergoing restoration and has been bad ordered for longer than I want to say.  Its what lured me into volunteering on the Austin Steam Train Association.  I am thinking in a year or so she'll be back in service.  You will want to come to Austin, Texas and see it for yourself.  We do excursion rail over a very nice run.

These days I mark up as the fireman on our Alco RSD15 # 442.

Formerly a Santa Fe road switch engine.

I can tell you being on the head end, even if its not steam is still pretty cool.  We still have to call the switches and targets,

signals, line us in and around the wye, switch cars, and

flag crossings if its on the slow orders.  All volunteer.

Its ok now.  We have a nice section of track - the old SP Llano to Giddinngs Div. I still have to inspect the engine, crank it,

and keep a current FRA Rules Card...... but I am waiting for steam to come back .

On the steam engine you are in a very busy place.  As the fireman, there is much to stay on top of - water level, fireing valve, staying in synch with the engineer as he comes out on the throttle or reduces it by making sure there is the right ammount of steam available.  Also as fireman you are the second set of eyes.  The engineer can't see around the boiler.

Its hot, and very busy and probably one of the most exhilerating things one could ever do.

Answer 4

I've driven several different Steam engines over the past few years as a volunteer driver on a steam railway in the midlands, i've driven Ex LMS 3f's, 4f's 5f's (black fives) 8f's Ex GWR 53XX, 97XX and 34XX"City of Truro", 78XX's, BR Standard CL4 and CL5's, Ex LNER B1's an ALCO S160 and even the legendary "Super D" plus a few industrials. It's hard work, but very rewarding. There's nothing like giving a steam loco a good workout! I'd 110% recomend the experience to anybody even if they were not interested in trains.

Answer 5

yes I rode in the cab of an 0-4-0 at the Monticello and Sagmon valley railway muesum in Monticello ILL.  I was about 6 years old.  I remember it was hot.  I also got the chance to ride a steam engine when I was in Japan.  They use it in regular passenger service in the summer.

Answer 6

Yep,about forty years ago in South Australia I qualified for a firemans certificate.Thats the requirment for keeping the fire going,They had english and scottish loco's,520 class was one that i can think of.It was very dirty but enjoyable work.They where phased out of service about the mid sixty's all over Australia.There are still used for novelty events though all over Aus and one here in Tasmania.

Answer 7

I haven't actually ridden on the footplate but I was quite surprised nearly 2 years ago to see the Duchess of Gloucester steaming into Ealing Broadway station and so I asked the fireman 'Bet it takes a bit of shovelling to keep this baby going?' and he invited me to come up to the cab to have a look around while it was stopping at the station.

Answer 8

Yes.  The opportunity to run steam is indeed hard to come by, and any engineer who says they wouldn't jump at the chance is either being untruthful, or not a true engineer at heart.

In general, they are hot, dirty and require some physical exertion to run.  Fun for a day or two, but I wouldn't want to use them in service on a day to day basis.

I was fortunate enough to have been chosen as a fireman pilot in April, 1981, when the UP's 4-8-4 Northern class #8444 and Challenger class 4-6-6-4 articulated #3895 when they traveled from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Sacramento, California, for the grand opening of the California State Railroad Museum.

I piloted the fireman from Sparks, Nevada to Norden, California, the top of "the hill" of SP's famed Sacramento Division, on the Challenger, and the fireman on the 8444 from Norden to Roseville, California.  Great stuff.  I wish I had a dollar for every picture of the crew that was taken.

I was again fortunate when able to run, for a day, McCloud River Rail Road's No. 25, a small Prairie class 2-6-2, and SP's #4449, also a Northern class GS-4, for a distance when this locomotive traveled between Klamath Falls, Oregon, and Dunsmuir California, in 1986, as it was headed for the Olympics with full Daylight livery behind.

To put it in a nutshell, a diesel electric is pretty much a cold, impersonal lump of steel.  Not so for an engine under steam.  The cross-compound air pumps are the heart beat and can be felt as they shake the engine.  The hiss of steam and the whirring of the dynamo is its breath.  The water is its lifeblood, the fuel its food.  The bark of the exhaust is its speaking voice, while the whistle sings. They perspire, with the odor of hot grease and oil, and they definately have their own personality.

I wish you well in your endeavor to climb aboard, run or ride on one.  I guarantee it's the most fun you'll ever have with steel.