Our Train Is on Fire!
Posted: Fri. Dec. 21, 2012 7:44 am
At least that was my thought in 2003 when we threaded our way through Proviso Yard in a crew truck and neared our train, but that was not the case at all. In all my years at working on the railroad I had never seen a full sized steam locomotive approach, and the plume of smoke was incredible. I actually though there was a major fire close to our destination.
It was actually a Steam Train Excursion run and it was neat to see such a lumbering machine sneak past our train and park next to us for the day/night. Being employees of the railroad, we abused our privilege and took a pile of pictures and boarded the train to see how everything operated. We even got to talk to the night fireman as he pitched shovelfuls of coal into the fire box and watch the old bituminous coal burn.
Quite the experience in any case...
It was actually a Steam Train Excursion run and it was neat to see such a lumbering machine sneak past our train and park next to us for the day/night. Being employees of the railroad, we abused our privilege and took a pile of pictures and boarded the train to see how everything operated. We even got to talk to the night fireman as he pitched shovelfuls of coal into the fire box and watch the old bituminous coal burn.
Quite the experience in any case...