All of us like to hear stories on this forum.
Tell us about your first invitation up in the cab. My first time was so long ago, I don't think we will get anyone investigated over this.
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Now that he is retired, I guess I can tell my story. One of my closest high school friend's father was an NS engineer. He could pretty much care less about trains, but knew I was really into it, so he worked out a deal to get his son and me a cab ride. He was working the night shift at East Wayne Yard (Fort Wayne) and had us show up at some crew building that is long since been removed, and one of his co-workers escorted us out to the loco he was kicking cars with on the west end of the yard. This was either late 1984 or early 1985, and I am ashamed that I do not know the number of the engine. I do know it was a high hood geep, and I seem to remember a tag inside that had a build date of 1962, so I assume it was a GP18 or GP30. I don't even remember if it was a N&W or Southern engine, or whether it had been painted for NS. He gave us a quick cab tour, and then we rode for about an hour as he kicked cars. It was really fun, but it was so dark in that yard that most of the time I had no idea where we were or what was going on. I loved trains deeply at that time, but my real knowledge of them was just a tiny fraction of what it is now, and it wasn't as meaningful or as enlightening as it would be now. All of his co-workers seemed cool with us being there, but he made it clear that he was breaking the rules pretty badly, and the days of even trying stunts like this were about to an end. Indeed, I never got a second ride. He said that a few years earlier when things were MUCH more lax, I could have rode all the way to Bellevue Ohio with him. As usual, my timing is always a little bit off.
My first invite to a cab was also so long ago, I doubt the engineer is still alive, never mind worried about being investigated either.
In the Summer of 1980, I was between my Sophomore and Junior years in high school, I was riding my bicycle, and happened to notice a locomotive idling on the siding by the Troutdale depot. I was looking it over from a distance, from the parking area, and noticed the crew in the depot lunch room. I figured what the heck, the worst they can do is throw me out( oh how I miss those days 21 years before 9/11/2001). I went in and started talking to the crew, the engineer invited me to come back the next day, and go out on the local with them.
Needless to say, I was back the next day(Early
), I was invited back many more times, and one day, after leaving the mainline for the branch out to the Aluminum plant, Al, stopped the train and had me sit in his seat and showed me how to run a GP38-2(cab #2007, IIRC) probably a bit less than a dozen cars and a CABOOSE(yes Virginia, they still used those on locals around 1980
) It was an experience, that I have never forgotten and probably never will.
Unfortunately, I was young and dumb(though, I was CAREFUL, not to do anything Dumb around the tracks or equipment when out with the crew) and I lost touch with Al, before I graduated from high school, that was one of the Biggest mistakes of my life. Those were the days before on-line applications, and WHO you knew was as important as what you knew. Unfortunately, my crystal ball was broken then, and I haven't been able to find a good condition time machine in my budget. I could be retired by now from a career that I truly believe I would have enjoyed. I do enjoy my career as a Truck Driver, but of the two, it probably goes without saying, which I would have preferred. I am still moving America's freight, just in smaller quantities than I would have liked.
In 1995, I got an unexpected offer for a cab ride in a wood burning Heisler , geared steam locomotive. I was on my Bicycle again, doing the Cycle Oregon Bike Tour. The Heisler was from the Sumpter Valley Ry, and we were over-knighting in Sumpter, OR that night. While riding into town, the road paralleled the tracks, I saw the train and stopped to watch it go by. The crew must have been in a REALLY GREAT mood that day, they stopped the train, and asked if I would like a ride into town? Seriously?, that was a no brainer, they lifted my bike into the cab, and I quickly followed it. Those 4-5 miles were the only miles on that 7 day tour, that I didn't pedal myself on, and I wasn't going to let my pride cost me a cab ride in a wood burning Heisler.
A Close Friend of my Mother's Father had a Machine shop business in Woodland, Wa. Clyde had about 6 acres, and an old machinery collection that was nothing short of a decent personal museum. Clyde's collection included an H.K. Porter 0-4-0T, he never did complete the loop of track around his property(is any layout ever TRULY completed?) I got some throttle time on the little Porter, in June of 2007, Unfortunately, it was at the Final Steam up in Clyde's Honor after his passing. Fortunately, I did get to meet Clyde in person before He passed, he was the type of Man, that this world could use a whole lot more of.
In July of 2007, I went to the Nevada Northern Ry, in Ely, NV, for an Engineer for a day program, and got to run their 4-6-0 #40, and their SD9 #204
In 2008, it was back to Sumpter, OR., this time for purpose of an Engineer for a day program. It was too late in the season to run my old friend the Heisler, being a wood burner, and it having been a very dry summer. I did get to run their 2-8-2 #19 though. Ely, was just light engine moves, but at the Sumpter Valley Ry. I got to pull a short train, that really did change the experience. I had intended to go back to the SVRy, in 2009 to finally get a hold of the throttle in that Heisler, but I Married my Wife in May of that year, so throttle time in the Heisler is still on my "to do list".
For someone, that isn't a working rail, and whose only railroading Family member was a Great Grandfather, who was an engineer for the CB&Q, who I never even met, I have been Fortunate to experience more cab time than most will ever dream of never mind get.
Doug
Rail City at Sandy New York in 1967.
http://www.railcitymuseum.com/
First time I got to run the throttle was on an SP&S Alco C415 in Albany OR 1971.
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IRM's Shay: J. Neils #5, a.k.a Klickitat Log & Lumber, St. Regis Paper Co..
I was 15 and IRM was offering cab rides (no extra fare!) The Polaroid is long lost to the dustbin of history, but I still have the 8mm movie I shot.
Fortunately, an S Scale model was produced of this locomotive several years ago:
Eventually, I learned how to fire a steam locomotive on her and also was engineer on her quite a few times.
Rusty
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About 1987 I was in charge of a fan trip by my train club to visit the Western Maryland in Cumberland to ride to Frostburg. They had the Allegheny Central steam loco then. I had a new Sony Hi8 mini video camera. I made sure everyone was aboard until I asked the engineer(forget his name) for a cab ride up to Frostburg. Still have a 45 minute video of the ride. A couple of times I have been invited in to the cab of a diesel while taking photos but no ride and I can appreciate why not.
Being from a railroad family, I have had many many cab rides over the years but 3 are most memorable to me.
In the early 1960's, I commuted to High School in NY City ever day. Whenever I could, I rode the Jersey Central from E.33rd Street Bayonne to Jersey City then across the river on a CNJ ferryboat. I knew many of the ferry crewmen as my grandfather retired as a first mate on the CNJ tugs and my uncle was then also a first mate. Instead of riding across the Hudson with the other passengers, my seat was upstairs with the ferry captain. As soon as we left the ferry slip at Jersey City, the wheel was mine crossing the Hudson. The same 'job' for me going home later in the day.
In the late 1970's I was called as a relief crew conductor for a job that outlawed at Cranford, NJ on the CNJ/Jersey Central. The engineer was a good friend and he invited my wife to ride with us to Elizabethport, NJ. After a few minutes he offered her 'the seat' and Susie ran the train (80 or so cars and a pair of ex-CNJ SD-40 diesels) all the way home.
Also in the late 1970's I was called as conductor for a local drill job starting at the ex-CNJ coal yard in Jersey City, NJ. Again my wife drove me to work as we only lived a few minutes away in Bayonne. My two daughters (oldest 5 years old) were with us and since the trackage into Bayonne was paralleled by a local road, Jennifer came along for the ride. Daddy ran the engine and I had her on my lap for a good 45 minutes.
Yes railroading was very family friendly years ago.
Walter M. Matuch
My first was a birthday present to myself 10 years ago when I bought one of the two available slots in the cab of the WMSR 734. Being early in the season, it was a steam-only run - no pushers - and the two firemen they had on board worked hard all the way up to Frostburg to supplement the auger and keep the firebox fed. It was an amazing experience, and we each got a turn at the whistle 
. My friends took this shot of me in the cab as the 734 was being turned on the table:
When we got back to the station in Cumberland, I was covered in coal dust, soot and cinders - wish I had a picture of that!
Andy
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First visit to the cab of a working locomotive was on Uncle Pete at Jackson Hole / West Yellowstone. Dad and I got invited up into the GEEP nine cab of the Stealth Train connector to Ogden in late Sept. of 1960. We were given a pretty good tour of the locomotive, and spent about an hour talking to the crew...as the train didn't leave for quite a while, and we had shown up pretty early. I asked the engineer if this locomotive had Magne-Traction like the Lionel version. Kids will be kids.
My first cab ride would have been on one of the Central RR of New Jersey 0-8-0 yard locomotives, in the Cranford, NJ freight yard. I'm guessing 1946 or 1947. I never stopped after that experience.
Hot Water posted:My first cab ride would have been on one of the Central RR of New Jersey 0-8-0 yard locomotives, in the Cranford, NJ freight yard. I'm guessing 1946 or 1947. I never stopped after that experience.
I like that last sentence. It doesn't take a lot of words to "say it all".
My first cab ride occurred in 1980 when I was 15 years old. I was doing volunteer work at Black River & Western Railroad in Ringoes, NJ at the time and was asked if I would like a cab ride in Consolidation No. 60. Wasn't going to past that opportunity up. I remember it was the middle of July and that cab so hot, but it didn't matter. What a thrill that was.
My first cab ride, if you can call it that, was at the window of the first car on the Market-Frankfort El.
For the young people who read this forum and may be mystified at how some of us actually gained access to the cab, this is how it once was (9-11-2001 basically ruined everything): Safety is always the most important discharge of duty, and inviting a non-railroader up in the cab is not inherently safe...but our country once had a good measure of common sense. So for example, if a road switcher stopped right beside your father's business and a fledgling engineer stood nearby, there was a chance he might get motioned aboard to stand by the control stand while the switching was done. When the last joint was made, the young person would climb down while the train line built, and then wave goodbye to his new friends. No harm done.
July 2013 for my 70th birthday, my kids gave me a ticket for "Engineer of the day" at Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad in Felton Ca, just sought of San Jose. That's me with my grandson running engine #1, the Dixiana a 42 ton Shay. A article was published about my trip in the April 2014 issue of LOTS publication "Switcher".
It was one hell of a kick for me. And I am ready to do it again.
Yes, the second photo was Photo Shopped!
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cant tell you when or where, because I don't want to get anyone in trouble, but it happened 25 years ago, so the guys are probably retired by now.
me and a friend would go to a local outlet and watch a 100 car coal drag come into the factory.
so one day we are standing by the tracks, the locomotive is doing about 5mph into the facility, the brakeman comes out on the deck and yells, GET ON! my friend and I look at each other in disbelief. We hop onto the (then still moving) locomotive. the engineer takes her into the station and unloads his coal drag. on the way out we hop off. We were "on deck" for about 1/2 hr
to 45 min. what an experience.
I was 11, I think, when we visited TVRM in Chattanooga for the first time. I was the first 'real' railroad museum with steam running I'd ever been to. I remember I couldn't sleep a wink the night before at the hotel.
Back then, the brick depot near the (under construction) NMRA HQ was still being finished and not much rolling stock was there, so the train rides originated out of East Chattanooga where the shops are.
The ride was short but it didn't feel like it at the time. I rode in the caboose because for a kid, that's the cool place to ride. Along the way, my Mom came up and said she talked with someone to ask if I could get a cab ride, so I just needed to hop on when they turned the train at the wye.
Keep in mind, this was SRR 630. Even then, I knew her better as ET&WNC 207, a loco my parent saw plenty of times before that line traded her back to the SRR for some ALCO RS-3s.
I climbed up to the cab and was given the set right behind the fireman. They asked me to sign a hold harmless waiver, which I thought was funny as even at that young, naïve age I knew was legally worthless as I was a minor. Rode back to E Chattanooga in the cab and even rode the turntable there. I had a grin on my face you couldn't blast off with explosives.
This is not a photo from that run and not one of mine, but it's the same location and timeframe, showing the engine just as she did that day (I have some photos but they're from a 110 camera and not all that good).
30 years later, almost to the month, I got to see 630 at TVRM, but she was cold at the time, yet had just run a trip the weekend before. Yes, I got cab ride again but it was in a GP unit diesel and I was surprised how short the ride seemed that time.
I will be heading through Atlanta in the fall for a trip and I'm seriously thinking of returning to TVRM. If 630 will be running when I'll be in the area, I'll for SURE go to see her again.
No cab ride but HUGE missed opportunity. In 1980 the Chief Mechanical Officer of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad was a client of mine. He told me , "Any time, any where, any route, any engine, just let him know and he'd put me there." Unfortunately I was young and working 18 -20 hours a day building my business. He later took the same position with Amtrak. I regret to this day not taking him up on that offer.
Mine was around 1961 when I was 7 on a Pennsy MP54. My dad took me for a train ride on a Sunday night and I think in Paoli we were in the car getting ready to go back down to Penn Center the conductor came over and told my dad we coule go ride up in the cab with the operator if we liked. He must have known he was taking me for a ride and probably noticed I was enjoying it. It was also my first time riding on a actual RR train not including Trolleys or Subway Trains.
It was 1953. Uncle Roland, who was a UPRR Engineer, at that time working passenger from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, took me down to Paramount, on the Long Beach branch, where we boarded UPRR GP7 102 and rode around while the road switcher worked tracks in the Paramount area.
Number 90 posted:It was 1953. Uncle Roland, who was a UPRR Engineer, at that time working passenger from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, took me down to Paramount, on the Long Beach branch, where we boarded UPRR GP7 102 and rode around while the road switcher worked tracks in the Paramount area.
Here's a sister engine from a few years later. A GP9 looks pretty similar to a GP7.
At Salt Lake shop 1980, a tired old loco with new paint.
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A switch crew on SP let me on their SW1500 in the yard in the late 1970's. Interesting 15-20 minutes!
About 1951 or '52, I got a ride in a Pennsy K4 from Point Pleasant to Bay Head on the New York & Long Branch. I was in 7th grade at St. Peters in Point Pleasant, which had a playground right next to the tracks., where I used to spend recess and lunch just watching K4's, Camelbacks, RS units, Sharknose, etc. Eventually I got in the habit of taking my lunch up to the station at Point to be close to the engines. One day I was standing right next to the fireman's side of a southbound, eating an apple, when he asked for a bite. I tossed it up and that became a daily routine until one day he said to come on up! He gave me a quick tour of the cab, the engineer whistled off, and the fireman told me to sit on his seat. Wow, a dream come true! Of course I had to walk back to school from Bay Head, but that was not a big deal. I had several more cab rides after that, courtesy of the fireman and engineers. The fireman who invited me up was a gentleman by the name of Ben Eckman. His name was mentioned in Don Wood's book on the NY&LB as being a Conrail engineer, and he has a plaque on the wall of honor at the PRR museum. Great time to be a kid!
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1971 four years old. In Huntington mass on the old B&A then Penn Central now CSX. My dad and I only walking distance from our house at the time were at the small siding in town for local businesses (no longer there), watching a engine doing switching moves. As the engine passed by the engineer yelled out hey you want a ride. So dad and I hoped on for awhile as the diesel moved cars around.
While I can't remember the fine details of the day and by age four I already had a Lionel train set. This event I credit with getting my hooked on being a railfan and hobbyist.
nylbfan posted:
About 1951 or '52, I got a ride in a Pennsy K4 from Point Pleasant to Bay Head on the New York & Long Branch. I was in 7th grade at St. Peters in Point Pleasant, which had a playground right next to the tracks., where I used to spend recess and lunch just watching K4's, Camelbacks, RS units, Sharknose, etc. Eventually I got in the habit of taking my lunch up to the station at Point to be close to the engines. One day I was standing right next to the fireman's side of a southbound, eating an apple, when he asked for a bite. I tossed it up and that became a daily routine until one day he said to come on up! He gave me a quick tour of the cab, the engineer whistled off, and the fireman told me to sit on his seat. Wow, a dream come true! Of course I had to walk back to school from Bay Head, but that was not a big deal. I had several more cab rides after that, courtesy of the fireman and engineers. The fireman who invited me up was a gentleman by the name of Ben Eckman. His name was mentioned in Don Wood's book on the NY&LB as being a Conrail engineer, and he has a plaque on the wall of honor at the PRR museum. Great time to be a kid!
That is outstanding! Thank you for sharing.
SIRT and Steam at Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal. It was amazing how loose things were back then in terms of access.
1975 - My first cab ride was in Chicago, the cab was yellow but the seats were covered in plastic.
I was lost but the engineer / driver knew the way to Union Station from the loop train station I was at.
I had to sit in the back seat with my luggage.
Back in 2000, EMD SD-70 as a field service engineer. Later, the wife purchased for me an engineer's cab ride on a tourist railroad so I got to Drive an RS-3 Great memories and lots of fun.
Similar to Ace, my first cab ride was in the front end of a Walt Disney World monorail from the Disney Contemporary Resort to the main entrance and parking area back in about 1983. Good thing it was dark, that one "rail" seemed pretty precarious, especially 40 feet in the air.
DM&IR Yellowstone #224, around Duluth Union Station, 4th of July weekend, 1961. We were riding an Illini RR Club fantrip, which had just arrived in Duluth. A large group of fans (maybe 20 - the Yellowstones had quite large cabs) were on board, and the engineer got a signal to move his train. It was a ride of about a city block, and it was similar to having 20 people stuffed in a closet.......but I rode it !!
Disneyland Railroad C.K. Holliday some where from 2003-2004... No picture I could find.
My first time in the cab of a locomotive was Conrail GP40-2 3287. It was leading a westbound that stopped here in town to wait for MOW work, and the crew invited me up. I sat in the engineer's seat, blew the horn, etc. I remember being surprised by how different the Diesel engine and horn sounded from inside the cab as opposed to trackside. This would have been around 1995 or so.
First cab ride was probably around a year later on the local shortline railroad. They had a former Seaboard/CSX GP16 rebuild, and once I got to know the regular crew I rode on that engine quite a bit. It's also the first locomotive I ran. The Conrail (now NS) interchange is on a grade, and there was some issue with the sanding system- so, not wanting to stop and restart the train on the grade, the engineer had me run the engine while he went out on the front platform and checked on it. It must have been an interesting sight, with the engineer on the front platform and a 16 year old kid running the engine!
nylbfan posted:
Lucky you. Wish I got to go in a K4. My first cab ride was at Strasburg in N&W 475. Was there for NRHS railcamp. Got to blow the whistle, the whole deal. Also got a tour of a CSX diesel and ex Reading caboose on a trip to Conrail's Metuchen yard.
First was on the Maryland and Pennsylvania (Ma and Pa) from Belair to Towson, MD in the early 1950's. Largest cab I was ever in was that of a B&O EM-1.
Basically grew up weekends at the Ohio Railway Museum in Worthington, Oh, where my father was an early member. As perhaps a 5 year old I remember getting bored riding around in #2, a steeple cab for a couple of hours at a time while Dad was moving cars around and pulling revenue trips with the passenger train. The rides (if you want to call it a cab ride) I remember most fondly was standing in the front window of North Shore car #450 just after passing over the bridge over Rt 161 and hitting 60 mph for short periods.
About 1970, Dad, who had just recently arranged for PC to donate a PRR Railway Post Office car to ORM, arranged with a PC official for my brother and I to ride in the cab of the National Limited from Columbus to Dayton. I rode one direction, Jerry the other. I spent most of the ride sitting in the fireman's seat of the PRR painted E-8.
About three years ago visited Cass with my 9 year old son. Happened to realize the fireman was a friend from high school that I hadn't seen in 20 years. That was John's first cab ride and my first in a Shay.
A couple years ago end up spending a weekend in Kansas City on a business trip. With nothing to do, rented a car and drove to the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad after realizing they were running their ATFS Pacific that weekend. Got invited into the cab to look around and ended up taking a short trip to move the train. Kicked me out after they realized I wasn't their paying cab ride customer :-). Later used Facetime to real time video of the Pacific running to my father, now retired in Vegas, as the ATFS locomotive is quite similar to N&W 578 that he sometimes ran and fired at Worthington/ORM in the early 1960's. There is a sound recording of Dad whistling off 578, accelerating, then braking on the web. Dad's cab ride stories are better, as he was capable of talking his way into almost any cab and a few cockpits, from PRR steamers on the AC&Y to the experimental NYC "Explorer" train.
Bob
Back in 1998, a friend who works for the Reading and Northern, offered me a chance to ride on the "Mountain job", which went from Port Clinton to Mount Carmel. This was a beautiful day in November right after my birthday. I rode in #2003, which is an SD38 of Grand Trunk heritage. We spent the day making pickups and set outs all along the old Reading Shamokin Secondary, ending up at the paper plant in Mount Carmel, PA. I got to see towns in the coal region from the back side of the houses. It was a nice day for a train ride, and I got to see that working for the railroad was actually work. Coming back from Mt. Carmel, they set the retainers for the brakes on the freight cars, (no dynamic brakes on the SD38's), and went slowly back to Gordon, PA. Saw a lot of areas that were familiar to me, but from a different angle, and got to go through the Atlas Powder Company grounds, to see turkeys and deer. Have had a couple cab rides since, but all are special.
