Since it was my birthday, I went up to Portola and my wife arrainged for me to run a real GP-9 in the SP Kodacrome scheme this afternoon.
It was the first time I have ever run a locomotive. First they showed me how they start a diesel engine. It hadn’t run in few days so there was quite a procedure involved. They then backed out of the yard, showed me the the controls and I took off. It was about as much fun as I have had with my clothes on. To start, you turn the headlight to the direction you are going, release the brakes and open the throttle to run 2. It starts slightly slowly and then starts accelerating quickly. Once it get up to 10-15 miles per hour you can shut it down to idle and it just keeps going like there is a gigantic flywheel inside. When you get to a grade crossing, you turn on the bell and then blow the horn. Two longs, a short and then a long. To get it to slow down requires a gradual application of the brakes, they want you not to do it too fast or it will start sliding and wear a flat spot on the wheels. To be honest, I caught on pretty quickly simply because it is like running a very large HO GP-9 on DCC with a VERY good sound system and VERY good momentum. The controls in the cab were just like my Digitrax only very much larger. For the example the reverse switch is about 4 inches long and throws about 8 inches. Visiblity out the left side of the cab while running is strikingly limited especially when in reverse. I think that switching could get interesting very fast.
I got the distinct impression that it is all seems pretty easy when you are in a flat loop with no cars attached. Adding 1/2 mile long train behind you with a few 2-3 percent grades and suddenly it would get very complicated very fast. If you ever get the chance to do this, don’t pass it up. - Nevin
But how did it compare to a P2K or a BLI? [:)] Just kidding, it sounds like a great birthday present. I’ve been up to Keddie Wye many times but never did get to run an engine. Sounds like I should have forked over the dough and taken a spin.
Seriously, I know what you mean - I had the opportunity in 1972 to work at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay for a year. Lived in a CB&Q dynamometer car, got to run STEAM, worked on everything there. And they PAID me! (Silly of them - I woulda paid THEM!) [:D]
I volunteered at The Texas Transportation Museum for many years and operated our ex-Army Baldwin switcher a few times. What a blast. As crazy as it sounds, I still prefer cuttin’ loose with a Fairmont MT-19 any day. We had a couple of ex Espee motor cars that I enjoyed working on just as much as running.
I understand the FUN that You had, the end of July, I drove to Ely, Nevada and rented two of their locomotives, an SD-9 ( their #204) and their 4-6-0 (#40) It was something that I had wanted to do for a LOOONNGG time, I can’t remember the first time that I read their ad in Trains, but have thought about it MANY times since. I had a large tax refund this year and finally decided that this was the year to do it.
I really enjoyed the SD-9, but they scheduled the 4-6-0 rental later in the day, what a finale. When I was running the steamer, there were a couple of groups of people that would take pics and/or video then drive further down the line and stop to take more ( one was even another truck driver in his rig [:D]) so when ever they were shooting especially video, I would blow the whistle for them, hey ANY chance to blow that WONDERFUL steam whistle was NOT to be wasted, the fireman kidded me that they were going to start charging me by the whistle blast.
The Nevada Northern Railway Museum also has a couple of ALCO RS’s a 2 and a 3 I think and they also have 2 2-8-0s the #93 is operating, but was down for repair on an overheating axle bearing at the time and they have another 2-8-0 the #81 that they are trying to raise the money to return her to service also ( she is going to need A LOT of Time, Money, Sweat TLC and a WHOLE BUNCH of DEDICATION ) but they do have a great group there and with a bit of LUCK thrown in with the other requirements hopefully she will steam again.
If you do get the chance, I can not recommend this experience highly enough, wasn’t cheap, but to me it was worth every penny. I am Hoping to go back next year to run the #93 and one of the ALCO’s, and hopefully someday in the not to distant future, also the #81 and the other ALCO that they have running.
WOW, so jealous here… dang sounds like fun. Doug, I posted the link to the Ely site below… Expensive, but not terribly so… that sure looks fun… hmmmm sounds like a 40th birthday gift…hmmmmm…
As the website you posted shows, they do give a discount for the combo pkg, which is why I did the diesel also, running the Steam engine was my first interest, but with the discount, I couldn’t pass up the diesel, and I did enjoy it VERY much too. Being an 800 mile drive each way also made it easier to justify the combo pkg (as if I needed any convincing) also being single and not having to OK the expense with a wife, it was a lot easier.
I have heard of and read about several places that like Portola offer hands on diesel rentals, but the Nevada Northern Railway Museum was the ONLY place that I knew of that offered a hands on Steam rental program. I have recently heard, but have not researched or confirmed, that the Sumpter Valley Railway in Sumpter, Oregon is now also offering a Steam rental program on their 3 foot narrow gauge similar to the Nevada Northern program. That would also be interesting to look into, and for me a LOT closer to home, being from Portland, OR.
Something else that really amazed me while I was there, was that they were really open as far as how much of their property a guest was allowed to wander unsupervised. Their shops and so much else is open to visitors, that I truly do hope that no one does something stupid and gets hurt and one more wonderful place has to become liability conscious, as so many have already. The people there are really nice, I got there the day before my rentals, and was talking to some of the people there, and was invited for a cab ride in the 204 ( the SD-9) while they repositioned equipment around the yard to prepare for the next day’s excursions, that was an enjoyable experience in itself, and as it was the same engineer that my rental the next morning was with he showed me a little about the locomotive, so the next day went even smoother.
Brian I do Hope that You get your 40th Birthday gift wish, I would recommend it to anyone w
I know what you have experienced. Great, isn’t it? Back in 2005, I had the opportunity to run the Great Northern 400, the SD45 that the GNRHS owns, better known as “Hustle Muscle”. I, too, found it to be a great experience. That engine, if you are not prepared for it, accelerates so fast when running light, that it can throw you off your feet. Sort of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, being as I had to travel to Fergus Falls, Minnesota from out here in Washington, but so worth it.
Second you are correct…Running a geep with tonnage doesn’t compare to a light engine movement on a loop of track…However,the principles is the same when making a light engine move…Switching wasn’t that bad…You see you had a 5 man crew and the conductor,the other brakeman and fireman would help relay the hand signals as the need a raise…Later radios would all but eliminate the need to use hand signals.
You are correct. Nothing like it. I grew up around the railroad, steam and diesel. My dad was an engineer for Santa Fe. He ran switch engines that in diesel days could be about anything from Alco’s to Geeps. The town was on a branch line that normally had a local each way daily, but during grain harvest, there were two switch engines on each trick, plus grain trains stacked on the main line in both directions.
I would ride with him on Saturdays, no officials around and I think I was about 12 when I got to sit on the throne and run it up and down the mainline within yard limits. Great fun.
Yup, I did the Portola thing and ran the same geep earlier this summer. I’d really like to go back again someday, but I will probably not bring the wife and kids next time so that I will be able to spend more time examining/admiring the collection without my family’s “aren’t you done yet?” attitude (well, maybe I’ll still bring my younger son - he didn’t mind wandering through the yard with his old man on this trip).
Don’t you just HATE that! How many times have they dragged you to places you couldn’t have cared less about. My brother took me to a train show for my birthday a couple years ago and complained “Aren’t you done yet?” the whole time we were there.[:(!]
Congratulations on doing something that you’ve always wanted to do. I was at an air show this year with B-17 bomber tours. It was a fifteen minute flight for $350. I thought that was a reasonable price for an experience of a lifetime. My wife thought otherwise. She didin’t grasp the idea of why I wanted to “waste” money on fifteen minutes in a plane. I don’t think these pieces of history will be around forever. Happy Birthday!