Ever got to ride in the Engine

Not as impressive as your day but my wife and I got a cab ride on the Valley Railroad dinner train when they were running around to return.

(The head end power was a bit smaller.)

Scotie

How were you able to do that??  Where do I sign up I would love to ride on one for a day too id even come to IA.or where ever this is eh

My first ride, some 25-30 years before this photo was taken:

The only Polaroid photo taken on that fateful day is long-gone.  Still got the 8mm movie I shot during it somewhere...

Rusty

Not me... But My son scored a ride in this Gem down in Hanover, PA.  He was doing the bell/whistle on the return trip. 

We stopped for water just prior to returning to the station.  At the end of the trip the Engineer asked how the ride was from the water tower to the station.  I said it was smooth with no jerks.  He said my son was at the controls for that leg.

Ron

Here is the Henry Clay, last Anthracite hard coal, Lokie that I fired and engineered for about 3+ summers as a volunteer at the Pioneer Tunnel in Ashland, Pa.

Me and my MOM,

No pictures of my own, but I've ridden in the cab of Allegheny Valley Railroad 1802 and an unknown locomotive (I can't remember) on the Westmoreland Scenic Railroad. 

At one time you could book a cab ride on the Western Maryland Scenic RR. 734. Made for a great day.  Click on the link posted above.  Click on Start Slideshow, upper left corner control panel . Enjoy the ride.  Note: It is difficult to take pictures, with a point and shoot camera, as the locomotive is moving.  A relatively rough ride.

Back in 2013, my kids gave me the best gift I could have ever asked for. Being engineer for a day! I spent the day with my family at Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton Ca, about 30 minutes so of San Jose. I rode in the cab of No. 1, a 42 ton Shay, affectionately called "DIXIE".

It was a 1 hour trip to the top of the mountain, and I blew the whistle on the entire trip. Half way up the hill, the engineer got out of his seat and handed me the throttle. My other hand controlled the sander. I took Dixie to the top of the mountain and brought her to a smooth stop.

What a thrill I will never forget. An article was published in the April 2014 issue of "SWITCHER", the publication of LOTS, Lionel Operating Train Society.

If you ever have a change to be an engineer for a day at a local RR museum, no matter the costs, it is well worth it and something you will never forget.

RAY 

25 years ago I was lucky enough to ride the cab of an Amtrak F40 PH that was pulling an extra (no passengers) through Nevada for 1/2 a day. We had the section mgrs permission. The crew was great, I learned quite a bit about operations, safety and heard some great stories.

Jay

This is a funny story, I am a police officer and just so happened that the CN Railroad Police Officer stopped by our PD. Sooo I asked,  a week later I was riding in the cab of a Dash 9. However the engineer told me that if you ask your local railroad if they do ride alongs,  some still do. I always say, it never hurts to ask the worst that can happen is they say no. So good luck and I hope you get to.

In the Summer of 1981, I was 15 and riding my bike through Troutdale, OR, I saw the local road switcher on the siding down by the depot, I rode down and was looking at it from the paring lot, when I saw the crew in the lunch room. It was a different world back then, and I walked into the lunchroom and started talking to them, One of them extended his hand, and introduced himself, and invited Me back the next day to go out with them.

 I was invited back several times, and one day while leaving the mainline to work the Reynolds Aluminum plant, Al stopped the train and had Me sit in the engineer's seat, and he instructed me on operating the locomotive. It was probably about 2-3 miles that I got to run a GP38-2, with about 9 cars and a Caboose(still had them back then). when we got to the plant gate, he took the controls back, might be the wrong eyes watching. It was "Against the rules" back then too, but not considered as serious a violation as it is now. I don't recall if "Dutch Drops" were against the rules then, but they showed me how that was done.

 Unfortunately, I lost touch with Al, when school started back up, and I have kicked myself many times for that lost opportunity, back then it was before on-line applications, and WHO you knew was as important as WHAT you knew, Al had very long whiskers, Seniority wise and would have been an Excellent personal referral. Al was near retirement age when we met, so almost 34 years later, I am not too worried using his first name here. Al, and the rest of that crew gave me some Experiences, that I will Remember and Cherish for the rest of my Life, it is too bad that it is near impossible now days for others to have similar experiences.

  In 1995, I got an unexpected cab ride in the Sumpter Valley RR's Heisler, I was again on my bicycle, doing the Cycle Oregon bike tour, when outside of Sumpter, where we overnighted that night, the road paralleled the tracks, I saw the train and rode past it to watch it pass, watching me pedal HARD to get ahead of them and then stop, the crew must have realized that I was a railfan and STOPPED next to Me and invited Me to ride into town with them, I handed my bike up to them and climbed into the cab for another once in a lifetime experiences.

 In 2007, I got the chance to work the throttle of an H.K. Porter 0-4-0T, it belonged to the Father of a Close Friend of my Mother. Linda had told Me about her Father's little Porter, but so many times, that Clyde would Steam up the Porter, it just didn't fit into my seemingly always busy schedule, one time I did get there in time to play with the whistle, but the fire had already been dropped, and the boiler pressure was falling, no throttle time that day.

  The Next Steam Up of the Little Porter, I MADE SURE to make room in my schedule for, and I got to pull the throttle on my first Steam Locomotive. Sadly, THAT Steam Up was the Final Steam Up in Clyde's Honor after his passing. Many here would have really Enjoyed a visit to Clyde's, He had owned a successful machine shop business, and had a Love of Old Machinery.  Clyde was personally responsible for the survival of the 3 truck Heisler that is at the Mount Rainier Scenic RR, in WA State. Clyde had the Heisler for several years before deciding that his 6 acres just weren't enough for a Locomotive like that, his collection filled several large buildings and included several steam Donkey's, Steam and gas antique farm tractors, and even the Original 2 cylinder Fairbanks-Morse Diesel engine, Dynamo and electrical panel, that powered the first chairlift at Timberline Lodge on Oregon's Mt Hood.

After several years of searching, I finally found a Bachmann 82099, this out of production Large Scale, is the same locomotive that Clyde had, with just a few appliance discrepancies. I rounded up a couple of cars, track and transformer, and a couple of weeks before Christmas 2013, I called Linda, and said Hey, I'm in the neighborhood, got time for a visitor? She said come on by, not knowing what I had. When she unwrapped and opened the box, She broke down in tears, instantly recognizing "Her Dad's Porter" She said that I shouldn't have, and tried to pay Me for it, I just told her, it was a small price compared to the Priceless gift the Family gave me in getting to run Clyde's real Porter.

Also in 2007, I went to Ely, NV for my first "Engineer For a Day" program, and I got to run their 4-6-0 #40, and SD9 #204, Another Great Experience.

In 2008, I was back to Sumpter Valley, for their Engineer for a day program, where I ran their 2-8-2 #19. I can't say enough about how great the people at the SVRY are, My Mom, Step-Father and a Sister and her Husband a two boys were all invited to ride in the Caboose(no extra fare even) Just by dumb Luck the day that I was able to reserve was one of my Nephew's 4th Birthday, He and my Brother in Law, got to ride in the cab for a bit, but the Whistle and Brake releases, hurt his ears, and he preferred the Cupola in the Caboose.

I had intended to go back to the SVRY, in 2009 to run the Heisler that I had gotten the cab ride in back in 1995, but I went and got Silly and got Married, the trip back to Sumpter Valley, just hasn't fit into the schedule or Budget since, but SOMEDAY, I am going back.

Doug

As I mentioned in another thread I'm going to be participating in the Valley RR Hand on the Throttle program this April, both steam and diesel. Really looking forward to it.

Its a great opportunity for all to be in the cab and have a hand on the throttle.

http://essexsteamtrain.com/spe...and-on-the-throttle/

Scotie