Take a Ride in the Cab: What's your favorite memories?

An excellent video. I appreciate the editing, aesthetics, slow pans, and production values!

Rode in the cab of a New York Central switcher in the late 1950's near Buffalo, NY. Can't remember the specifics but it was a three hour or so ride on a Sunday morning  - a ride I remember to this day. Wish I knew what I know now to appreciate the ride more than I did at the time. 

Back in the 80's, I got to ride in the cab of the Canadian through kicking horse pass in the Rockies with a couple of old timer engineers who had lots of tales from their days running steam engines. Amazing experience for me as a teenager at the time!

I have gotten several cab rides over the years (just rode on a 2-8-2 last weekend), but the ones in my youth mean the most to me…

• Very first cab ride: Former ET&WNC 2-8-0 # 207. Most of you know her today as Southern 630. I was 11 at the time, at TVRM, for the full run.
• North American Rayon 0-6-0 Porter fireless #1. This was one of the last commercial steam locomotives running in the US. It ran for a rayon mill in Elizabethton, TN until the early 90s! Thankfully she was saved for a display near the site of the plant.

There were plenty others later (a couple I got to run myself) but those were the coolest.

I have two (one steam, one not)...

The latest was a "Your Hand on the Throttle", running the the Valley Railroad's #40 in Essex Ct.  A very memorable experience, and gift from my wife. 

The first was a cab ride in Amtrak's Turboliner from Albany to Croton Harmon when I was a young boy.  My father and I spent a day railfanning, and on the return trip, the conductor invited us into the cab.  

I've only had cab rides in two steam locomotives. The first was 425. There was a last minute photo charter, and one of the guys who ran it came into the coach and told us that neither of the two cab rides sold. He said he had a joking bid of $30, and opened the bidding. One guy bid $150 for the trip back, but nobody said anything about the trip up, so I raised my hand and said $40. I got a cab ride from Port Clinton to the Hometown High Bridge for $40. The guy running it was not to happy with me. This was some of my earliest photography work, (as well as my first ride on the Reading and Northern outside Lehigh Gorge), so please don't mind the poor quality. 

My second steam cab ride was in Lehigh Valley Coal Company 126 when it was at the Allentown and Auburn last year (I specify steam because I ride in Allentown and Auburn 206's cab all the time). After the trains were over one night, they let some of the volunteers run and fire her. I had a great time, but wished I wasn't dressed to be a car host in such a dirty environment. 

I don't know if this will count as a third cab ride, but the following Tuesday we had to shove 126 to the other end of the line to be loaded onto it's trailer. The decision was made to shove it, so as conductor, I rode in the cab to monitor the shove. 

Started out to be one of my favorites but didn't end that way...........

This was my last cab ride...

Does standing at the window of the lead car on the Market-Frankford El count as a cab ride.  Did than many times as a kid.  

I've got plenty that are not steam related....at the risk of being booted, here we go....

-My very first cab ride was on the Long Island. The current engines, #404 and #408. Both in push mode from Southampton, east. Right after 9/11 as well (how we managed to pull this off, we'll never know). The engines are pushing and unoccupied. Riding at 60MPH+, in reverse, over jointed rail was quite something. Unfortunately, no photos exist. In order to get from the coaches to the engine, we walked through the engine compartment, again while the train was in motion at 60MPH+. I felt like I was going to get sucked into, what I think, was the dynamic brakes. Did several rides like this on the LIRR.

While in the cab, we just enjoyed the ride. Our host, simply told us - blow the horn and ring the bell all you want. Put the train in emergency, you are walking the rest of the way east!

As many hear may remember, our local county parks own and operate two railroads in two parks. I was the operations manager for my nearby RR, about a mile from my house. I was fully qualified on the other RR and would run there as needed. Three CP Huntington locomotives and 10 coaches. All coaches were 1960s originals from Chance Manuf. The current locos were purchased new from Chance over the years from 1995 - 2014, replacing older, now retired CP Huntington locos. There are plenty and plenty of stories to tell, but, I think the "good ones" should not be repeated....

When I was a volunteer at Walkersville Southern, I had the extreme privilege to be taught to fire the #126 and was fireman on many runs. The Gramlings are fine people and were very good to me. While I no longer volunteer with WS, I was able to experience a true thrill last Saturday when I was able to take the throttle of #126 and make several runs on a portion of the WS main. 

-One summer day, many years ago, at the Trolley Museum, I was the sole visitor and sole rider on the TTC PCC car. I was familiar with the motorman based on previous conversation at the LHS, etc. 

I took several rides through the park that their track winds through - a very scenic ROW. As I climbed off the last run of the day, I hear "Hold on, you're comin' with me!".......Ok.....off we go to the end of the track. From the end of track back to the museum, I get a crash course on PCC trolley operation and run the car the entire way back to the museum. There is a passing siding about halfway down the line. Just as I was running through the switches, I was demanded to stop the car immediately. Fearing  I screwed up big time, I was getting up to hand the controls back over. My motorman refused. I was told I was doing just fine, for a rookie.

He asked "wanna see how they accelerate"?

"SURE!" I reply.

Motorman, looking me square in the eye: "Floor it". 

I did just that, and the car literally took off like the space shuttle with no wheel slip. 

-

I got to ride in the cab of Strasburg's #475 about 8 years ago. I could not imagine a long trip, as it was hot, and my rear-end got a banging over every rail joint. It was a great memory I'll never forget.

I was invited to do this because I had taken a series of photos for a competition the year before. I had given the engineer a framed photo of himself in the cab, and this was his unexpected "thank you".

OGR Webmaster posted:

This was my last cab ride...

Wonderful video Rich. I don't think you can ask much more than family to be there with you on your last run. 

What a nice variety of equipment everyone has ridden on. 

Rich, what great memories they, and Gramps, will have!

Had a great cab ride in one of these on a INRD passenger trip. The other end was always the 56 Santa Fe open platform business car. The looks of motorists at grade crossings who were expecting a long freight train to be treated with a passenger train were priceless, a lot of smiles and frantic waves from them. Mike Mautner just caught the Santa Fe 56 coming into view on the end of the train here.

OK, first cab ride, was in the Cranford Yard 0-8-0 switch engine of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, summer of 1946. I was STUNNED, to say the least, at 4 years old!

Now; "favorite memories in the cab of a steam locomotive", the list is way too long, however here are two:

1) Cab of SP 4449, westbound out of Del Rio, Texas, on the New Orleans Worlds Fair Daylight return trip, when the large retaining pin that holds the engine to tender drawbars in place, fell out at about 45 MPH. The engine thus separated from the tender, the whole trailing train went into emergency, and hearing the lord bank, I looked out the small access window on the back wall of the all-weather cab, and watched the tender slowly disappear in the distance. My mind went into slow-motion, I looked forward, shout off the oil firing valve, looked back again and thought, "No way! That thing NEVER disappears like that!!!!", looked back forward, turned off the train-line steam supply, then all the noise stopped, as we just coasted along. Engineer McCormack, finally got her stopped by using the power reverse, and a small bit of throttle. We jumped off and put pieces of ballast under the wheels, while we surveyed the situation and made planes to "put her back together again".

It took us three hours and fifty minutes, and we were on the move again, and never delay any Souther Pacific trains.  Not necessarily a "favorite memory", but one I will NEVER, EVER forget!

2) Cab of UP 844, westbound on the UP's Overland Route, just east of Cheyenne, and the beginning of Archer Hill. We encountered a red block, as the 10,000+ ton freight train ahead of us had stalled, due to one of their diesels off line from ground relay trips, & lock-out. After receiving permission from The Sidney Sub Dispatcher, we swung out the front coupler, and nosed up to the last car of the stalled freight. The FRED was removed, and we coupled into the stalled train. Using the radio, my Engineer instructed the Engineer on the stalled train, when to start pulling and releasing the train brakes, as we sat with 844 trying to push from the rear. Stalling a steam locomotive is no big deal, unlike a diesel unit, so we simply sat their, with steam in the cylinders, until the brakes began releasing, and ever so slowly 844 began to move forward, pushing in the slack, as the diesels on the front of the train began to move also. We finally got up to about 20 MPH, all the while at full throttle! Sadly, we had to stop before the summit of the grade, because the Engineer and Conductor of the freight were going dead on the hours of service law, and once the new crew was aboard, we had to start the whole train, again! Finally made about 15 MPH, until the summit was cleared, and we stopped again, in order to cut off 844 from the rear, re-install the freight's FRED, and we then headed on down the west side of Archer Hill, and into Cheyenne.

Riding in the cab of the Southern Pacific 2472 to go meet the Union Pacific 844 and the Robert Dollar #3 in Hearst, CA.  I have always loved trains, but I am not from a railroading career.  I was awestruck!  It was amazing to to hear the thunder, feel the rumbling under my feet and to see so many iron horses in one place!   Thanks, Don!  Matt

Probably my most memorable cab ride was aboard the 765.  My mother, father, and I were passengers on our first New River Train excursion.  On the eastbound leg of the trip from Huntington to Hinton, we made a stop in Thurmond, WV for a photo run-by.

My father and I made our way up to the locomotive to chat with a few of the crew members he knew and to get an up-close at the Big Berk .  After some brief conversations and waive from who I believe was the CSX Division Road Foreman of Engines, I was told to climb aboard the cab of the 765 for what I thought was just going to be a quick look around the cab.  The next thing I knew there were 3 quick blasts from the Nathane 6 Six Chime and Rich started easing the 30+ car consist back west: we were going to ride the cab for the run-by!

After coming to a stop just west of town, the crew got the okay to proceed back east past the photo line.  Rich gave two short blasts on whistle, slowly eased the throttle back, knocked off the automatic (train brakes) and yelled out, "here we go!"  THAT'S WHEN THE REAL SHOW BEGAN!

Getting the close to 2500+ ton train into motion on a close to half-a-percent grade expectedly takes a lot of tractive effort and skill.  Slowly, Rich and the 765 began to get the train into motion. The first crack of the exhaust was startling.  The second was even louder, as was the third.  With each boom of 765s exhaust, Rich worked the chrome plated throttle back and forth, presumably to put as much power to the rails as possible without letting drivers slip.  She held the rail and demonstrated just what Lima Superpower was capable of!  With each beat of the exhaust you could literally feel the locomotive rock back and forth!

Within a minute or so the exhaust was so loud you couldn't even hear someone a foot away.  CLEAR!  As we pasted underneath the former C&O signal bridge, the fireman began to blow the "guest whistle" (which I believe was PRR 3 Chime) as Rich began to open the throttle more and more while simultaneously easing the reverser back towards center. Once Rich had her "hooked up," he began masterfully playing the 700's whistle, but you could barely hear it over the defining shotgun exhaust.  And the most impressive part of all:  the throttle was probably only about 3/4 of the way open!

Although it will be 27 years ago this October, I don't think I've stopped smiling since!

PAUL ROMANO posted:

Started out to be one of my favorites but didn't end that way...........

I would to hear the story behind this trip.

Only have had 2 cab rides on steamers in my life:

June,1976 on the Valley RR in Essex, Connecticut, a short ride on 2-8-0 #97 while the train was being made up, I hardly remember it being only 16, fortunately a family member took a snapshot of me in the engineer's seat.

39 years later, 9/27/2015, I rode WMSR 2-8-0 #734, on arrival at Frostburg, my back signaled me that 16 miles standing up in a cramped and rough riding cab was enough. I gingerly retreated to GP30 #501 and rode back to Cumberland with 2 very nice gentlemen.

My favorite and I don't think Matt of the forum was doing sound for me other than some set up shots. It was on our first run of the morning and we had some wheel slip problems. We were lucky enough to have had the time to mount one of our cameras over the drivers that morning and I had one in the cab. Got it all on tape for the DVD we were shooting for the Golden Gate Railroad Museum. Watch how the engineer gets out of this. This was from a promo for the DVD but it's sold out. Don

This was with Matt from a couple of posts back when we rode the cab of the 2472 to meet up with UP 844. Don

645 posted:

NJCJOE posted:

PAUL ROMANO posted:

Started out to be one of my favorites but didn't end that way...........

I would to hear the story behind this trip.

Not much of a story actually. Just a BIG dump truck that did not stop and look before proceeding across a ( IIRC it was private ) grade crossing. This happened during a passenger excursion during the 1988 NRHS convention in New Jersey. The NYSW GE was nearly brand new at the time too. Joke after that was it was a BASH-8 40-B as opposed to a stock Dash-8 40-B. I was a passenger on this very trip.

Thanks Joe. This was almost thirty years ago. Most people are not aware of the incident. I still have the scar in my scalp, the 4006 was repaired, sold to the PR&W, and now part of the G&W System. A memorable event to say the least. Thank God no one was seriously injured. 

Rode Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson #2860, on the BC RY, from Squamish to North Vancouver. What impressed me most was how smooth the ride was, as opposed to Western Maryland Scenic Consol #734, which rode like a sledge hammer on steel. Also rode Soo Line 4-6-2 #2719 and GTW 4-8-4 #6325, both of which rode nicely. A trailing truck makes all the difference in the world !

Dan Padova posted:

Does standing at the window of the lead car on the Market-Frankford El count as a cab ride.  Did than many times as a kid.  

I like the new SEPTA commuter cars for that reason (the ones without the doors on the ends). You can sit in the front of the lead car for an engineer's view. Especially interesting entering the tunnel into downtown Philadelphia.

In my high school days, I was invited (secretly) to board an AT&SF northbound freight at Ardmore, OK and took it to Purcell, OK for a night time ride along the Wa****a river.  This was the only trip I ever took in an air conditioned cab. On the SLSF, we simply opened the windows.

P.S.  The editing software on this forum will not allow the name of the river to be spelled out.  ??