Trains.com

Oh, yeah

899 views
17 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
railfanespee4449
  • Member since
    August 2004
  • From: IA, usa
  • 351 posts
Oh, yeah
Posted by railfanespee4449 on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 3:23 PM
I'm going to the Golden Gate Railroad Museum in California AND getting a chance to engineer the GGRM's resident GP-9!!!
Call me crazy, but I LIKE Zito yellow. RAILFANESPEE4449
Report Abuse Back to Top
Anonymous
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 3:25 PM
Awesome[8D] [8D]
Report Abuse Back to Top
adrianspeeder
  • Member since
    March 2002
  • From: Harrisburg PA / Dover AFB DE
  • 1,482 posts
Posted by adrianspeeder on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 4:01 PM
Do you have a digi cam? Take some pics.

Adrianspeeder

USAF TSgt C-17 Aircraft Maintenance Flying Crew Chief & Flightline Avionics Craftsman

Report Abuse Back to Top
Anonymous
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 4:02 PM
Sounds like fun. Remember to let the independent (brake) out nice and easy...

LC
Report Abuse Back to Top
railfanespee4449
  • Member since
    August 2004
  • From: IA, usa
  • 351 posts
Posted by railfanespee4449 on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 4:10 PM
Savin' for a digital cam at the moment
Call me crazy, but I LIKE Zito yellow. RAILFANESPEE4449
Report Abuse Back to Top
miniwyo
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Rock Springs Wy.
  • 1,967 posts
Posted by miniwyo on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 4:36 PM
Lucky you, have a great time!!!

RJ

"Something hidden, Go and find it. Go and look behind the ranges, Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go." The Explorers - Rudyard Kipling

http://sweetwater-photography.com/

Report Abuse Back to Top
CSXrules4eva
  • Member since
    August 2004
  • From: Louisville, KY
  • 1,345 posts
Posted by CSXrules4eva on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 4:41 PM
AWSOME MAN!!!! Have fun! U most certainly will enjoy the experience. Not many people get to get behind the throttle of a GP-9, I the engineers I know that work for CSX, have never been behind the throttle of a GP-9. ENJOY it.
LORD HELP US ALL TO BE ORIGINAL AND NOT CRISPY!!! please? Sarah J.M. Warner conductor CSX
Report Abuse Back to Top
Anonymous
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 11:36 PM
That ol' Geep will be fun to run, and a great part of the reason is the way it talks it up in response to the throttle. You'll see what I mean. . .

I put in a lot of miles on GP9s (and 7s, too) back when the 9s were new. I loved them.

Old Timer
Report Abuse Back to Top
Anonymous
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 11:50 PM
It would be very nice to have an opportunity to sit in the cab of any locomotive and work the controls. Some get lucky, some don't.
Report Abuse Back to Top
Anonymous
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 11:59 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by chessking

It would be very nice to have an opportunity to sit in the cab of any locomotive and work the controls. Some get lucky, some don't.


No, some have the gumption to go out and hire out on the railroad, setting other things aside. Railroading is a choice, a lifestype and a career. In that order...

So screw up your courage and try it if you dare...

LC
Report Abuse Back to Top
Anonymous
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 18, 2004 12:55 AM
Hey LC, do you ever get that feeling I do some days with my line of work, where you simply don't want to work it? I look at railroad work for the engineer as highly adventurous, somewhat lucrative, and an overall noble profession where the work never gets monotonous. Yes there are risks with what you do just like where I am now. Every day I report to work to go about my daily job walking on top of tanks having an approximate 30 kt blast yield (B 322 Propane/Propanone Tank Farm).
Report Abuse Back to Top
Anonymous
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 18, 2004 1:05 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by chessking

Hey LC, do you ever get that feeling I do some days with my line of work, where you simply don't want to work it? I look at railroad work for the engineer as highly adventurous, somewhat lucrative, and an overall noble profession where the work never gets monotonous. Yes there are risks with what you do just like where I am now. Every day I report to work to go about my daily job walking on top of tanks having an approximate 30 kt blast yield (B 322 Propane/Propanone Tank Farm).


From the point of view of someone who has done the work of trainman, conductor and locomotive engineer as well as many other occupations, I can safely say that your view of the locomotive engineer's job is unrealistic. I don't think it is nearly as adventurous as you think and consists of equal parts of fear, loathing, sheer terror, sleep deprivation and occasional euphoria...

I can't speak to walking around a propane farm. I have however been a firefighter at a station protecting a quadrant of a town including several major tank farms. The tank farms even paid for a separate foam engine for our station.

Oh, I can speak to the danagers of working around key trains with 30 to 40 loads of propane, butane, chlorine, hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid and other nasty stuff. Walking trains like that is as bad or worse than a propane farm... and probably about as exciting... (that is, not very)

So, yes, there are quite a few days when I'd rather be elsewhere. It is, after all, a job. Still, I wouldn't do it if I didn't get some enjoyment out of it...

LC
Report Abuse Back to Top
mloik
  • Member since
    January 2002
  • 437 posts
Posted by mloik on Thursday, November 18, 2004 1:22 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by railfanespee4449

I'm going to the Golden Gate Railroad Museum in California AND getting a chance to engineer the GGRM's resident GP-9!!!



Congrats! I look forward to hearing all about it! Please do take some pics and post them so we can all share.

I look forward to the day when my son Travis is old enough to join me in the GP-9 at GGRM, as well as at the Feather River Railroad Museum's Rent-A-Loco program.

ML
Report Abuse Back to Top
Anonymous
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 18, 2004 1:25 AM
<Sigh> :-( I hate my job. I want one like yours.
Report Abuse Back to Top
mloik
  • Member since
    January 2002
  • 437 posts
Posted by mloik on Thursday, November 18, 2004 1:32 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by chessking

<Sigh> :-( I hate my job. I want one like yours.


Chessking,

Sorry to hear that. Have you considered grabbing life by the antlers? (No offense intended, just curiosity and compassion)

ML
Report Abuse Back to Top
Anonymous
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 18, 2004 1:49 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by mloik

QUOTE: Originally posted by chessking

<Sigh> :-( I hate my job. I want one like yours.


Chessking,

Sorry to hear that. Have you considered grabbing life by the antlers? (No offense intended, just curiosity and compassion)

ML


No offense taken. I don't know exactly how to properly interpret taking life by the antlers by your meaning of it. A railroad career is dangerous work indeed, but then isn't it so living every day on this planet with 10,000 nuclear missiles pointed at us from various countries along with a host of other daily life-threatening problems?!
Report Abuse Back to Top
mloik
  • Member since
    January 2002
  • 437 posts
Posted by mloik on Thursday, November 18, 2004 2:12 AM


I don't know exactly how to properly interpret taking life by the antlers by your meaning of it.


Hi Chessking,

Sorry about the confusion: my bad attempt at a pun (taking life by the "antlers" = taking life by the "horns"). Jokingly equating horns with antlers is a job hazard of being an ecologist.

As for the rest of your question: I was referring to making a positive change in general, and not necessarily about hiring out with the railroad (although that would be OK, too.)

I suppose my main message is positivist: If you hate your job, then why not do something to make your situation better? I realize this may be easier said than done. I advise a lot of students about career paths, and there's almost always something that inspires, uplifts, intrigues, or motivates. The key is to identify that "something".

As Louis Pasteur said, "Chance favors the prepared mind." What are you prepared for? Where are your strengths? In what aspect or segment of society can you make a positive impact?

Not trying to preach, of course. Just some thoughts based on ten years of being a professor, with the advising of students that comes with that (many of whom call me "Coach")

Best wishes,
Michael
Report Abuse Back to Top
railfanespee4449
  • Member since
    August 2004
  • From: IA, usa
  • 351 posts
Posted by railfanespee4449 on Thursday, November 18, 2004 9:45 AM
Going this January- even I had bad luck- The steamer is in the shop, or i'd be engineering that!!!
Well, some other trip
Call me crazy, but I LIKE Zito yellow. RAILFANESPEE4449
Report Abuse Back to Top

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
THE magazine of railroading
MAGAZINE
NEWS
RAILROADS
BLOGS & FORUMS
PHOTOS & VIDEOS
LOCOMOTIVES
SHOP
CONNECT WITH US Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter
More great sites from Kalmbach Media
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy