Train Fest

Steam. For most of a century. Water fire and iron moved freight and passengers across the American landscape. Gone are the days of passenger terminals large enough to swallow a dozen trains under sheltered platforms. Gone are the days when rail was king of passenger transportation. In many ways the United States has become a third world country when it comes to hauling passengers on the railroads. The depots are silent now. But the depot in Cheyenne Wyoming is coming back to life. It's been donated by the Union Pacific Railroad to become the Wyoming Transportation Museum. There are plans to restore the structure and its location alongside the historic transcontinental railway will attract visitors eager to learn about Wyoming's rail history. Just across the rail yard from the old depot is a portion of Cheyennes round house where hundreds of Craftsman once maintained the Union Pacifics mighty steam fleet.

Today a handful of men maintain the railroads historic fleet including two steam locomotives that pull passenger excursions. The excursions draw large crowds who want to look at the steamers ride behind them and chase them. For many a steam trains have become an ob session and when we left Amber's. Site I saw an interstate was it was incredible it just bumper to bumper traffic and people hanging out their windows taken pictures and movies. There are some people at sunrise they had them open I was hanging out there. And I was in a talk car watching a man and it brought just about brought tears to my eyes I couldn't believe it. To actually see that and to know that there's that many people. That have an interest in the steam engines and that are willing to take time from their personal lives to follow all wavin to you know what. Back to Webster the steam engine it was doing credible.

My interest in railroading began when I was about 5 years old and my lease to go I lived back in Illinois and my mom and grandmother used to go shopping in Joliet. I would ride with them in the old Chevy and they'd park in a parking lot by Union Station and I watch the Santa Fe in Iraq on an AGM and go by dad helped out a little bit too when he bought me my line else at select kind of kept the fervor going the fascination is there for me as it is something I've always looked up to. Ever since I was a little boy I've always been fascinated with engineers I would go down put my dad on a commuter train to Chicago from Joliet you know I always see the engineer come by need always the way and I waved back and just the fascination of operating these things was what Dr. drew me to it. There isn't a train that I will find a way to chase or ride it to chase it or run alongside it. There's something about the smell of coal. That gets in your blood and you can't get rid of it. Oh I love the trains. I've been waiting years to get a chance to ride on this one.

Because. This is a wonderful opportunity. While perhaps Americans still have a love affair with trains even if passenger service is hard to find. Among some families railroad work is a tradition that spans generations. Fathers and grandfathers once maintained and operated hundreds of steam locomotives owned by the Union Pacific. Now a generation familiar with computer controlled railroading preserves iron horses. My great grandfather worked in the shops. He was a cad carpenter back when the cabs and everything wrong made out of wood and even while the cars are made out of wood. And my father was a fireman for a short time before World War 2. My grandfather worked for 46 years with a steam engine and my father worked for 43 years on diesel as then steam engines. I've got an ad out and Stockton California that's chief clerk. And

my fifteenth year. Father worked for the railroad along the way here. My grandfather worked. There was. Really a stamp. My family. Back here in Atlanta. Working on the railroad. Call. My mom claims I never outgrew it as a. As a kid and I've spent some time in the Navy and whenever we are in any foreign boards or any place I was always down where the steam engines were and when I got out of the Navy I. Had no opportunity to become a railroader and went to work on the Rock Island and when that was going under a group of us wound up out here in the far west working for the UPC and several other railroads. As far as actually getting want to get involved with the railroad itself I didn't begin to laugh. I came out of college with a degree in psychology and I won up working as a sales representative for Texas go for year and I decided behind the desk wasn't for me.

This is the challenger class locomotive with a 4 6 6 4 wheel configuration. It was one of the largest engines built for the Union Pacific designed to pull heavy trains over the continental divide in southern Wyoming. It's also the largest steam locomotive still in operation. But even as engine 39 85 was being completed. Some railroads had begun the conversion of the diesel electrics. The high cost of maintenance had already doomed locomotives of the steam era to scrap peeps and city parks. They used to have like 500 some odd people to shift just in Cheyenne here to keep those

things running they're very labor intensive. Oh yeah then and Laramie 55 miles away you had another several hundred Rollins the same way Salt Lake the same way every town had you know fifteen hundred people did nothing but keep steam engines running. Very labor intensive like a jet fighter almost. But the railroads were one of the first large industries in America right along with the steel industry. One of the oldest remaining industries in the country and the railroads grew up with the country. There's a quite a body of historic. Theory that the growth of the railroads preceded the growth of the country the railroads actually open the country up. And it's important that people not forget the history and heritage of the two that are intertwined. And by keeping this equipment operating it by taking it out let people see in it and see how the country was built and how the railroads were run. Those two things it reminds them of the history and it also is a contrast between modern computerized space age railroading and what used to be. Not if I was built in July of 900

43 it will be 50 years old you live this year. There was a Union Pacific on one hundred five of these locomotives and Union Pacific Design the challenger Wheeler a. Locomotive as a war baby. It was delivered during the middle of World War 2 and put into service right away hauling troop trains and hauling tanks and trucks material to both coasts to be sent to the European front Japanese front. It was used on high speed freight trains and on some secondary fastener trains until after the end of World War Two. And it operated until 1957 when it was put in storage it was retired 1062. There was a scrap like 99 percent of steam locomotives work. It was put back set aside set aside set aside and it never did get scrapped in 1975 it was put on display over by the depot. It takes a substantial investment to keep this equipment to house it to maintain it and operate it and you feel you being very aware of its heritage and its history being

intertwined with that of America. Recognizes its obligation to do that and it and it does so. We have five steam locomotives here only two of which operate this this one and the eight forty four. We have a parts engine and we have two other locomotives one for display and one that we just keep because it is too valuable to cut up. As far as diesels we have five of those two we have the last remaining operable Centennial diesel which is the largest diesel ever built and we have three streamlined passenger locomotives they're not here right now. But we do have three of those. We have three rotary snowplows and then we have about 20 support cars that support either the snowplows or the steam engines or the diesels warmer out on the road. There's quite a lot of assortment of equipment. I got involved in the steam program in 1979 when a group of us were had gotten together under the auspices of John Boehner who was a conductor brakeman switchman out here on the west and we saw the challengers in the parking lot of the depot and the big wires on holiday far and we thought wouldn't be great to

have a a large locomotive out here performing first versions of special events. And we looked at the big boy and logistics of getting it out of the park and the logistics of getting it back into service again would involve an awful lot of money. So then we turn around and went to the depot parking lot the front went through the challenger the 30 95 and found out that it had been given a class 3 overhaul just before it was put away in storage. So was the intent in turn only it was in really good shape and externally it looked to be pretty good too. They worked on it from 79 81 and they worked on it in their spare time it was all weekends holidays vacations that type of thing they put in 4000 man hours are spaced over a period of two years. We were first fired up and the end of January we didn't have the jacket on and yet they're still pretty much bare bones but want to see what kind of shape the border shell is in. No under full pressure and we fired it up and outside the shop here and

it has held up magnificently pressure wise and everything else. So that we finished the cosmetic on it got it ready. This was a coal fire engine in 1990. We converted over to oil. It took us about 4 must convert it over to oil. The reason for that was was coal fire star so many fires along the ride away. They won't let us run a very far other steam engine a 44 is coming up for a major overhaul. I had to replace a floozy tube the super heater unit stuff like that so we needed this engine to cover for a couple years till we got it done so we made plans to make an oil burner out of it and they consist of a little bit or removing grades and cold rates. The stoker in the auger and replace the bill with an oil pan put the firebrick in a it was quite a challenge but it was it was fun. We went with a lot of transfer data back in 1944 when they done it and I think that was probably the biggest challenge.

And then after it was done getting to see how well it worked was it was even a bigger thrill. The changes got personality of its own small engines large engines each individual engine of each class. You get around these things. If it's quiet now you don't hear anything but you get some steam in or start the air pumps up there pumping air you hear them pounding away and you hear steam hissing off Maula joints the stuff in that that are a little bit loose yet you have to tighten up as it heats up they swell up a little bit the metal and tighten up. On the railroad. You know you hear the rod might get a little bit here let alone in the bell ringin. But. It's just a hunch. It's a lie. That the living breathing hunk of iron. Are quite a challenge there are a lot of work a lot of hard dirty work. But there are a lot of pleasure.

They're different than a diesel a diesel you just go turn on a switch and she's a girl steam is a lot more complicated. You got to like bring it back to life you gotta put water in I get steam build up in a guy get a lead off and get to steam pressure build up to create the horsepower. When it's got steam in it you can tell it takes it has a soul and there's feelings there and early in the morning most of us that. Run it out in the road we can tell you what kind they were going to have right. Right early in the morning. She's in a mood even to have a good day if she's not. And we've had some sour days. Look I'm always were first color in horses and I think that was because they can be as cantankerous as a horse. As a real horse. Supposedly it's just an inanimate piece of machinery but once you've been around it for a while it talks to you in its own way it tells you what it wants tells you what it's willing to do what it's not

willing to do and then you spend the first few miles every day kind of tuning yourself into it to see how it's going to perform that day and what it's going to want what it isn't. No two locomotives are alike and in my experience any one locomotive is never the same two days in a row or there's always a little bit of a difference so it may be it may be a little bit anaemic. The locomotive entender away a million and 70000 pounds of one hundred twenty two feet long and it puts out ninety seven thousand. Little over ninety seven thousand pounds truculent. Develop. If. My letters. Sound or sound. They carry fifty nine hundred gallons of Number Five fuel oil and 25000 gallons of water. And if you're working it real hard as the heavy train up a steep hill and everything working full out they'll use about 40 to 50 gallons of oil per mile in about a thousand gallons of water for miles. You have to figure out how much you're going to use for the day. We figure an average of about 20 gallons to the Mile Water we've got

auxiliary water cars so we can go approximately 300 miles during the day without water enough because there's no place to water up anymore. We figure about 10 gallons of water every gallon of fuel so if you're sitting on spot we don't use as much as one where for instance charging up Sherman hill at full throttle with 20 passenger cars behind us. Then you use an awful lot every day. We had a hundred forty three card double stacked freight train pull in here with five nice big new diesel units on it. We took the five diesels off we put our 30 1985 steam engine on it. We left town had nice the ruling grade as Archer Hill. We cleared our Charile at 34 miles an hour and commenced to make running time across Nebraska with one old 1943 steam engine that replaced five new diesel.

This is the front of the locomotive. The boiler itself is 21 feet long the whole front end of the engine is approximately about 35 or 40 feet long if you try to take a 30 foot engine with rigid drivers around a tight curve that's going to straighten the curve out. So what they did on these locomotives is the under frame on the first set of drivers under here has articulated that meaning that all the steam fittings and all the joints that go from this part to the boiler roundball hugest and the front of the motor has this hole for an engine swing two to three feet almost four feet either side to go around a curve. The front boy at the front of the truck will come around the curve like this and arrested will come around in the lineup as you get back to the straight stretch. That's I think a tighter curve but the same thing on a vehicle and that you do talk a wheel base and if you've got a longer wheelbase you go out and buy a Ford or Ford or a pickup truck and you go try to turn around the middle of the street you can find out it's awful tough. Where do you get sued or ranger.

It's not that tough. Same thing with this. My hands in the front engine truck so it can go either way. That bottom portion that's against the rail can take a tighter curve while the top force is in the water still is rigid. Bring it over here on the engineer side of the cab the engineer always sits on the right on the locomotive he has a reverse here determines which direction the thing's going to go of course. And the throttle right now the reverse is a neutral and we're going forward it will be down about here. Everything will be like it should be and the throttle will be back about here this this levers connected to some rods that run clear up to the front and open the throttle valve. We have brake valves here one for the train one for the locomotive the bell valve whistle. And then of course I've got a water pressure gauge and a speedometer and I've got air pressure gauges here tell me what the brake systems there are. Over on the firemen society has the firing valves and the injectors to put water in the boiler and he has to maintain the boiler he has to keep the. Fuel and water levels right he

has to keep the steam pressure up. He makes the steam the engineer uses the steam. As we go down the road in order to number five fuel all we burn is a is a heavy fuel and it makes a little bit of smoke and it also can leave a carbon residue in the flues if you let that build up it acts like insulation and it doesn't allow heat transfer so about every 30 minutes we run a scoop full of sand through the fire box and the draft of the fire falls the sand through the food and scours the carbon off mass where the black smoke comes from. We can't burn diesel fuel in the locomotive because diesel fuel doesn't have enough heat. You have to have the heavy black oil to get the amount of heat you need to boil water this. This operates at two hundred eighty pounds steam pressure. And that fire boxes big is the average living room so you have to have a lot of heat. To make it work. It's an early summer morning. Engine 39 85 has been charged with low pressure steam from a generator. The crew arrives in the pre-dawn darkness to

light the fire box and build up high pressure speed for the day's excursion. Oh. They're no. Good. Oh. I don't light up. It. Was. Good. Today the thirty nine eighty five will pull 15 crew and passenger cars over the Union Pacific steepest rail grade Sherman hill between Cheyenne and Laramie. It's a special excursion celebrating the donation of the Cheyenne people by Yuki to the people of Wyoming. Thanks Howie.

Thank. You. Very much. A lot sadder just the thrill of barreling down the ride away at a good clip with a beautiful train behind you when she's working good. Think when you're coming into these different towns and seeing the look on everybody's face and

mainly the kids and the old timers and the old timers are there real happy to see it and the young kids are totally awestruck. They're not sure what it is. But for some. Bizarre. It's a fascination. Is a skill. Not everybody can make a move. Not everybody can get on the train that doesn't involve a lack of action on your territory and in the type of training you have in everything else. That's a skill still involved. Not quite like it was a lot more than just just saying this is crap. So so

so. So there's a. There's a lot of pride in and you're. You're you're kind of you're perpetuating Loskiel you're perpetuating a lost art. Brain A lot of happiness a lot of people are carrying on a little history. And there's a lot of personal pride accomplishment. There's. A lot of you can see the results of what you do. And. You know we live in a white collar world now and this is a blue collar job is there not too many people work for their hands anymore. And listen this is strictly working with the hands and there's some pride. It's a labor intensive affair. Maintaining steam locomotives like the thirty nine hundred

five. And there's virtually no hope of turning a profit. The crew works long hours to prepare 30 985 for the day's tasks. We're not operating excursions they repair and we build other rolling stock in the historically. Spare parts aren't manufactured anymore and have to be custom made. So what return does the railroad get for its investment. I remember these trains from the old days when I was a little kid when I was about 5 I remember. Taking me through the Roundhouse in Denver. I wanted to be a locomotive engineer but then the diesels came out. In the. Glory and fantasy of of railroading. It wasn't the same with the diesel as it was for steam. So you get a chance to ride on this is just marvelous. But I've always been a train fan and I have always been a huge Pacific fan even when I was a kid growing up in Wisconsin. I just I like the. Thought of the. Western railroad and I like the thought of. Yellow. Gray. Colors and the red stripe.

So my first real August strain was on the Pacific. Guide to Seattle. Through Wyoming. My first experience with my. Wyoming the first time I see mountains. So this is real. Down to earth for me. Getting me back on a. Ship that I did years ago. I'm not going right now that are scary Laurentis very soothing very relaxing. My wife and I and that over trains and she saw the advertisement in the paper and. Gave me a call at work and said let's go. Next thing you know she had called and made reservations and got the tickets. This is being pulled by the Challenger locomotive. One of the most famous and most powerful locomotives of all time. And I have never ever dreamed I would actually see one. Under power. And just had this real privilege to say or. Do what I'm doing running this thing but if you do get a chance to look around and. You see a lot all the looks and a lot of smiles a lot of waves as you go down the road the

people are always glad to see the steam and you never see a frown from the chaos. There are quite a tract of engine too. They draw such a crowd of people. Seeing little kids faces the stuff as they see it is it's it's quite a pleasure to see becoming a Townsend has always been my contention that my reward is a coming to town to see the tears in the folks that have ridden behind it worked on and been around them for a song. When they were kids or to see the kids to come out today you know that. You know the big fascination is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and we get this thing out. It's kind of put on the back burner for a few minutes while I walk around all around this thing because it's just awesome. What's the most fun on earth. I'll tell you what's the most fun I've had here lately is when Ron and the boys have got the thing running properly like it is right now. When you leave Laramie Wyoming and you've got a Sherman hill in front of you and the boss opens up the throttle and away you go in that firing so great that you can pretty much sit back

relax and just kind of watch the world go by had a pretty good clip that's that's fun for me. Listen and Dora talk as she does talk to you. If so. Steam ran beautifully today. Probably better never ever say. Right. Right. Right. Did it. Hurt like a. Truck.