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Railroading primer

P

PuroBrat

I am not here :^)
Joined
Apr 2, 2002
Messages
4,227
My son got a once in a lifetime opportunity, a 4 Year Old's Dream (wife said it looked to her that it was a 44 Year Old's Dream) :D

Here in Santo TX, a train goes by about every 15 minutes or so. For some reason (maybe Wascal will enlighten me) the train STOPPED tonight. We don't have a Train Station so the train was stopped on the tracks that are at a 10 ft elevation above the parking lot at our only gas station. 3 guys got out with suitcases and went to a Van, where incidentally, 3 other guys got out and headed to the train.

I decided to walk my son up the hill and see how close we could get before they ran us off. As we approached the front of the engine (These things are friggin HUGE up close BTW) one of the guys ask my son if he wanted to see inside. He did, of course (and as luck would have it, I got to go too :p ) He must have heard me talking to my son, because as we finally reached the cabin (or whatever they are called) one of the guys says "Hi Joe, this is the driver's seat, climb on up here and have a seat" then he points to one of the buttons on the panel and says "If you press this button it will blow the Horn"

Here we were in the middle of po-dunk city, and my son is sitting in the Engineer's seat and blowing the air horns on a Massive Diesel Locomotive. At his age, I would have gladly relinquished a testicle for that opportunity. My son got to call both his Grandmas and tell them all about it. But my wife may have been right when she said "I think YOU were more excited than Joey"

:thumbs: :thumbs: :p
 
That is such a neat story, PB. And at 4!! He'll remember that his whole life.

All I got to do was watch and listen to the old steam locos go by when we'd go on vacation to the old family home in Canada. I used to love lying in bed at night and hearing the whistle way off in the distance get closer and closer. I was considerably older than 4, and I never got to blow the whistle, though.

(Sniff... now I'm gettin' all nostalgic....) :D

So, did you get a chance to push the button too? :D
 
That is just awesome! We just took Joshua last weekend to see The Polar Express, because his play time is all about trains right now. He was mesmorized the whole time. Pretty good for a 2 &1/2 year old. I couldn't imagine how he would feel, if he got the same opportunity as your little guy did. Outstanding!

Gregor
 
That story was too damn cool. Congrats on that experience that you and your son will remember for a lifetime...

ALostTexan
 
PuroBrat said:
Here in Santo TX, a train goes by about every 15 minutes or so. For some reason (maybe Wascal will enlighten me) the train STOPPED tonight. We don't have a Train Station so the train was stopped on the tracks that are at a 10 ft elevation above the parking lot at our only gas station. 3 guys got out with suitcases and went to a Van, where incidentally, 3 other guys got out and headed to the train.
Click to expand...
Railroaders are only allowed by law to work 12 hours continuously. When the 12 hours are up you stop where ever you are and they send out a new crew to take over. The "suitcases" you saw are what we live out of. Usually a change of clothes, lunch and 25 lbs of rulebooks. Glad that the crew let you on board, I'v done that myself a couple of times. Just so you'll know how lucky you and your son are; if you had been seen by a RR official the crew would have been subject to discipline. At CSX that means 30 days on the street without pay. :0
 
My Grandfather on my Mother's side was an engineer on the Erie-Lackawanna line and I remember the thrill of going up in the cab with him. Of course, we got almost free trips on the trains too. Saw alot of the US that way as in the early 60's there were still some good lines open. Every time I hear a train whistle it's a little reminder of him. :)
 
What an awesome experience for your son!. With christmas just around the corner, you might want to look into getting him(and you) the microsoft train simulator game that allows you to use engines from various time periods and in different climates and regions of the country. :thumbs:
 
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