Once upon a time, odds are if you were waiting at a street crossing of a railroad, and a train passed, you would probably get a friendly wave from the engineer or fireman on the locomotive on the front of the train and maybe another one from a conductor or brakeman on the caboose on the rear of the train. A lot of little boys (and little girls, too!) got a big kick out of that. The mystery of what it took to be at the controls of such big machine was something that made its mark on popular culture for many years of the 20th Century. Everything from pulp novels, popular songs, movie serials and radio shows told the tales of life on the railroad.
There was just something about it that fascinated a whole lot of people. Some got over that by finding other things to grab their interest; usually the opposite sex. Others never did get it out of their blood and gravitated to vicarious thrills through the hobby of model railroading (Walt Disney was one of those). And those folks who really had it bad, well they got jobs with the railroad.
Now in recent years, thanks to folks like Ward Kimball, there has been a growth in railway preservation. Around the world, museums have been made out of sidings and old railroad yards. Where once it was the job to move freight and passengers, today it is the love of railroading that brings folks to recreate those days gone by. Bringing history to life (there’s that term again! “Heritage Tourism”) is a passion for some and a labor of love as well.
One of the most sought after positions at many of these museums is that of the locomotive engineer. Usually, there is already someone doing the job, so chances to learn are limited. During my tenure at the railway museum, my opportunities came about by pure luck, mostly being in the right place at the right time. If a piece of equipment needed to be moved, I often volunteered to do so, or to be part of the crew making such a move. Having worked both in the cab of a locomotive as well as on the ground doing the field part of the job, I was ready to do what ever was needed.
However, one need not plan to invest years in a project just to get a chance to run the train. A growing number of museums offer some kind of “Engineer For The Day” programs. One of the better known is here in California at the Feather River Railroad Society’s Portola Museum.
The museum is located in what once was a diesel locomotive service facility at the eastern end of the Feather River canyon. Today, Portola is a typical northern Sierra town with a growing retirement population. While the railroad still has a presence in town, it’s pretty much limited to the changing of crews. Refreshing the memory, Federal laws limit the maximum number of hours that a train crew may be on duty to twelve. That starts when they arrive at the railroad yard and report ready to work. So at various points along the railroad, crews already on duty will hand off their trains to another rested crew so that the train can continue to its destination.
But back in the earlier days of railroading, Portola was a busy place with locomotives and trains being serviced around the clock. The Western Pacific Railroad arrived here in 1910 and built a roundhouse and yard facility to handle the freight and passenger traffic. The WP was a latecomer in the transcontinental railroad business. It was created to allow access to the Pacific Rim to the other railroads of the Gould interests.
World War II brought diesel-electric locomotives to the Western Pacific for the first time, both for local switching of cars and for longer distance trains. Eventually, these provided such economic improvements that steam locomotives were retired. East of Portola to Salt Lake City was the first area to be fully dieselized.
Portola’s roundhouse was replaced by a smaller diesel servicing structure. Time claimed that as well with improvements to locomotive technology reducing maintenance requirements.
The Western Pacific always had a special place in the hearts of many enthusiasts. The route crossed some of the state’s most scenic territory. And it was always in competition with the bigger and better funded Southern Pacific.
A group of folks working with the local chamber of commerce convinced the railroad to donate the old diesel facility as the location for their museum. Gathering a collection of diesel locomotives and cars from the WP, they created a true one-of-a-kind “living” museum.
With funds to restore equipment always in short supply, they were among the first to offer the “Run-A-Locomotive” program to visitors. Today it is extremely popular, and often booked well in advance during the peak summer months.
Here’s a great description of a typical experience. It starts with a safety briefing and an explanation of the locomotive controls. Then you’re off for the chance to run the locomotive of your choice around the Museum’s demonstration railway (which was once the railroad’s balloon loop used for turning snow removal equipment). After the end of your session, the Museum provides you with a certificate in recognition of your time at the throttle.
They offer several packages to tempt any level railroad fan, from as low as $95 for one hour running the switching locomotive (one of the first two diesels on the WP way back when) to $125 for one of the road locomotives to a combination of both for two hours for $195. The page linked above has more info and photo’s of the locomotives typically available to rent.
If that’s a bit more than you had in mind, check out your local railway museum to see what they might offer. For example, the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, California, has it’s Railway Festival every spring. One of the opportunities taking place during that time is a chance (for a reasonable fee) to run a diesel locomotive back and forth on a short section of track.
If the diesel side of things isn’t what you really want, then other places offer the chance to run and fire on full size steam locomotives.
One of the best-preserved rail facilities from the steam days is the Nevada Northern Railway Museum in East Ely, Nevada. The NN goes back to the early days of the 20th Century when the railroad was built to connect the newly discovered copper mines with the transcontinental railroads.
Copper was king in more ways than one in this part of the Silver State. Long after the silver mines of the Comstock were closed and abandoned, the copper mines near Ely kept producing ore. From the large open pit mines the railroad carried it to a smelter and then on to those connections to the rest of the world. Parent company Kennecott Copper was the largest employer in White Pine County for many years.
Sentiment kept steam locomotives in storage in Ely for many years after they were replaced by diesels. Two locomotives went to display at the county museum and another was kept out of sight whenever officials came to town.
In 1983, the price of copper reached an all-time low, and the railroad ran it’s last freight train from East Ely to the outside connection at a place called Cobre. Kennecott donated over 32 miles of track between the mines and East Ely, along with the East Ely Complex of machine shops, roundhouse, yards, and rolling stock as well as the McGill Depot to the White Pine Historical Foundation.
In 1986, steam returned to the NN with the operation of that locomotive the railroad folks kept hiding — #40. In the late Nineties, #93, one of the locomotives on display at the County Museum was returned to service. Since then, both steam locomotives and a diesel locomotive have been available for the museum’s “Student Engineer Rental Program”.
The #93 did have a brief moment in the international spotlight as it and some passenger cars went into service during the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games carrying passengers to one of the venues.
This year, you can experience the #93 on either a yard ($350 for one hour) or main line trip from East Ely to Keystone and back (for $550).
While I have been to Portola to view the Museum, I have not run a locomotive there. The same is true of Ely, though I did participate as a volunteer supporting train operations (putting out small fires caused by coal cinders) one weekend. And while I’m proud to be a member of the Orange Empire Railway Museum, I don’t get the chance to visit as often as I would like to.
By no means are these the only places that offer the chance to run a locomotive — steam or diesel. But if you plan to be in either area, (or at any of the other railway museums and or tourist railways) and this is something you have always wanted to do… make that phone call and reserve your place now! You’ll be glad you did.
And now the Disney and railroads portion of today’s effort:
Nevada State Railroad Museum rolls out the Inyo
One of the most popular locomotives in the history of the V&T will steam-up at the Nevada State Railroad Museum for the Fourth of July weekend. From Friday July 4th through Sunday, Jul06, the 127-year-old Inyo will be out in the museum’s rail yard. The public may watch the engine in action between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. each day.
The Inyo has been working the rails in Nevada since 1875. Admirers nicknamed the locomotive “Brass Betty” because of the enormous amount of highly polished brass work, including the bell and bell stand, steam dome, sand box casing, boiler jacket bands, cylinder jackets, and running board edging.
After retiring from service on the Comstock, the Inyo became the first of many V&T cars and locomotives acquired by Paramount Pictures. The Inyo starred in movies such as High, Wide and Handsome, Union Pacific, Red River, and Disney’s The Great Locomotive Chase. The Railroad Museum plans a special Movie-in-the-Park screening of the Great Locomotive Chase on July 9.
Television credits include the Wild, Wild West and a recent appearance in the PBS American Experience Documentary “Lincoln: A House Divided.” The Inyo participated in the Gold Spike Centennial at Promontory, Utah.
The Inyo returned home to Carson City after being purchased by the State of Nevada and made its museum debut on May 29, 1983, after more than a year of restoration work. Since then, the Inyo has represented Nevada at the EXPO 86 World’s Fair in Vancouver, participated in Railfair91 event at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, and the 1996 Fourth of July Transportation Fair.
Nevada State Railroad Museum visitors may learn more about the Inyo and other V&T locomotives by exploring the museum’s new Locomotive Stories of the V&T exhibit. This exhibit features detailed models as the backdrop for a series of stories about the historic locomotives that once served northern Nevada and the Comstock.
The Nevada State Railroad Museum is located on Route 395 at the south end of Carson City at the Fairview Avenue intersection. For more information, contact the museum at (775) 687-6953.
Next week? That’s still coming along, but coming up every other week for as long as he has tales to share, Roger’s got more stories about things you wanted to do, but didn’t think you could do! How about flying in a big World War II airplane; riding in a NASCAR racer or even how to race with other folks on a quarter-mile oval; and a tale from the wide open prairies. Stay tuned to see which one he decides to share…
And if you’ve enjoyed this week’s informational attempt, why not click on the link for Roger’s Amazon Honor System Pay Box and share a buck or two? It’s appreciated greatly if you do!