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  • So how often do you get to ride along?

  • General discussion about railroad operations, related facilities, maps, and other resources.
General discussion about railroad operations, related facilities, maps, and other resources.

Moderator: Robert Paniagua

 #645630  by etna9726b
 
1974. Age 8. Chessie system. Cab ride for Dad and I plus a seat at the controls while moving. Light engine move from Gaithersburg, MD to Point of Rocks and back. Hooked on as DPU on the tail of a coal train for the return. I take it there's an uphill grade there somewhere.

What makes it even more politically incorrect (in current times) is my Dad mailed the engineer a fifth of whiskey the week after. Oh that 70's show !!
 #645642  by buddah
 
ah... best seat in the house... well pre 92 all of my engineer rides were given to me in NYC by MTA transit and in Chicago by my favorite group CTA I got to stand in the engineers booth and throttle up and down a few times. My only class 1 encounter happened after 92 although NOT On US soil I was allowed to operate US class 1 passenger equipment in a Y move outside a yard, no passengers on board just me the engineer, crew, and yard personnel who were informed as they all knew me ( given permission as I was drafting figures for said company). I plead the fifth on any other details to keep this well within rule violations, even though this particular route no longer exist (so no one will catch heat for it either way). I'm pretty sure there are some of you out there who can use your Imagination and figure out exactly what I did.
 #645809  by Nasadowsk
 
I was offered a few times. Always turned it down.

IIRC, there's quite a few museums where one can legally operate a locomotive - and there are trolley museums where one can run one of those, too (I have, and it's stressing enough with the museum staff watching you, I couldn't imagine a first time solo in real life with passengers!).
 #645858  by PRRTechFan
 
I've been blessed by the railroad Gods, I guess... I count 6 trips. A brief visit with an engineer in a Metroliner cab between Trenton and North Philadelphia in 1978 (...going to the re-dedication of GG-1 4932 in Washington Union Station), two trips in E-8 diesels between South Amboy and Manasquan in the middle 70's and two longer cab visits in Metroliner cabs on a Philadelphia-Washington DC-Philadelphia trip one Sunday somewhere around '69-'70.

But the one trip that I will never forget for the rest of my life was in a Pennsylvania GG-1 electric from South Amboy to NYP, probably around 1964. Mom was taking me to the circus in New York, and we took the train from Manasquan. I insisted on wearing my engineer's cap with the PRR keystone embroidered on the front, and it got the attention of the conductor. We talked on the way to NY, and he asked me if I wanted to watch the engine change in South Amboy. Of course! I watched them disconnect and uncouple the E-8 diesel and back in the GG-1. When the conductor found out who the engineer was, he asked me if I wanted a ride in the engine... He went back in the coach and asked my mom, who of course said yes. The engine was coupled, and I was up the ladder and in the cab...

The engineer explained signals, throttle and brakes to me. We stopped in Rahway and he asked me if I wanted to run it... I stood in front of him (I was too short to sit in the seat AND keep my foot on the dead-man pedal) and did exactly what he told me to do. I released the brakes, although he (in retrospect, wisely...) kept his right hand on the brake lever. When the brakes released, he instructed me to depress the button on the end of the throttle lever and move it one notch. I did. Then another, and another, and another.... Next thing you know, we are doing 80mph up the main line of the PRR with my hand on the throttle.

...Just before Elmora (...didn't know the interlocking names then...) he had me notch back the throttle and he did the braking into Elizabeth. I was supposed to get off and "go back to coach" at Elizabeth, but the front of the engine just overshot the end of the platform by about 10 feet, so I couldn't get off. Coming into Newark, the engineer spotted some "railroad brass" on the platform, and told me to duck down so I couldn't be seen. I ducked... So I stayed into NYP and "snuck" out of the cab there.

Needless to say, I don't remember a damn thing about the rest of the day, or the circus, or anything else we did that day!

...and many years later, when I started to commute to Newark to attend college at NCE (Newark College of Engineering, now "NJIT"), I met the very same conductor again. He let me read the rule books and the employee time tables, and we had long discussions about train operations.

But I will never forget that particular trip as long as I live!
 #645886  by Matt Johnson
 
Nasadowsk wrote:IIRC, there's quite a few museums where one can legally operate a locomotive - and there are trolley museums where one can run one of those, too (I have, and it's stressing enough with the museum staff watching you, I couldn't imagine a first time solo in real life with passengers!).
I believe they offer cab rides at the New Hope and Ivyland! I've ridden behind #40 out of New Hope on one of the excursions, but never did the cab ride thing.

I've gotten the engineer's view out of various MU's and subway cars, but have never been in the cab. (Taking PATH under the Hudson, if you grab the "railfan" seat up front you get a great view of the curvy route under the river and into Manhattan.) Recently on a Keystone running in push mode on the NEC, I walked up toward the door (though not right up to it) and watched the engineer's view from the Metroliner cab car for a couple of minutes, running at 125 mph north of Princeton Junction. That was pretty cool! Oh, and that also reminds me of when I took first class on the ICE 3 in Germany. We were right up front, and you can see the cab and watch the engineer's view at 186 mph, our speed much of the way between Frankfurt and Cologne!

ICE 3 first class
 #645895  by Nasadowsk
 
Matt Johnson wrote: Oh, and that also reminds me of when I took first class on the ICE 3 in Germany. We were right up front, and you can see the cab and watch the engineer's view at 186 mph, our speed much of the way between Frankfurt and Cologne!
BTW, the RiverLINE has that same 'ultimate railfan view' feature, too. Oddly, Austin's cars don't - I don't know if it's a standard feature from Stadler or not.

DB used to have a one-off custom railcar that was basically all glass from the waist level up. Ran under standard 15kv 16hz power, thus could roam the system. Recently had a run-in with another train (in a yard?), naturally it didn't fare well...
 #645907  by chuchubob
 
Matt Johnson wrote:
Nasadowsk wrote:IIRC, there's quite a few museums where one can legally operate a locomotive - and there are trolley museums where one can run one of those, too (I have, and it's stressing enough with the museum staff watching you, I couldn't imagine a first time solo in real life with passengers!).
I believe they offer cab rides at the New Hope and Ivyland! I've ridden behind #40 out of New Hope on one of the excursions, but never did the cab ride thing.
I got a cab ride on the NH&I. It was handled very safely, with me seated in the fireman's seat staying out of the way while the fireman shovelled coal.
 #645919  by MadManMoon
 
To my knowledge, I've never had a true "cab ride." I do recall (definitely pre-1992, as I was still in elementary school) riding in the lead car of an M-1 consist several times between Mineola and Penn Station on the Long Island Rail Road with the engineer's cab door open. I would peer through the six-inch space between the wall and the open door for the "railfan view," and would only speak to the engineer when spoken to. Perhaps I was allowed to hit the horn once, but I can't recall.

My only true "behind the wheel" experience was performed at speeds greater than 15 knots and depths greater than 400 feet, aboard a US Navy submarine. Prudence demands I withhold name and dates, of course. I was allowed to sit at the helmsman's position, during submerged operations, for approximately 20 minutes, including the (semi-)successful completion of a course change. While not stating a specific date, I will say this was after the dreadful 2001 Ehime Maru incident, and I'm sure civilians behind the wheel of a submarine is frowned upon. But I suppose given that I was "one of them," that somehow made it okay. Prior approval was sought from both XO and CO.

As someone almost as obsessed with submarines as trains, this was truly one of the more memorable events of my life to date. Sorry for the off-topic discussion, but the conclusion I drew, especially after the fact, is the same as an "at-the-controls" cab ride - the disasters of what might have been can freeze you in your tracks, and you can quickly see how things can get out of control. Mostly it's the things you can't predict, or even fathom, that will go wrong at moments like that.

Safety first shouldn't simply be an empty cliche.
 #645923  by hi55us
 
I get a view as good as a cab view on the NYC subway, when riding some of their subway cars you can see right out of the front of the cars.
 #645938  by Noel Weaver
 
Like lots of others on here I got many cab rides 50 plus years ago mostly on the New Haven but also on Pennsy K-4's on the
Long Branch, steam on the CV and in Canada on both major railroads and probably some other places that slip my mind at
present. My last steam cab ride on regular service steam may have been a ride on N & W 1226 from Crewe to Petersburg and return. I might have ridden on the CP after that, can't remember the dates.
When I went into engine service on the NHRR in 1960 we gave many people cab rides but we sized them up first and i always
told them they had to behave themselves and we never ever had problems. We even had a trainmaster climb on the engine
one time and we told him the guy was qualifying, I guess that might have stretched it a bit but he did hire out soon after
that cab ride as a fireman.
My first few years as an engineer was the same thing, I let many an interested person ride the engine and it never caused
any problems, it also started more than railroad career and a few of these people are actually still working. It gradually came
to a halt probably in the late 70's or very early 80's when various things happened that indicated that it was not a good idea
to allow this to continue.
Fast forward to my last trip in October, 1997 when through arrangements with the local R.F of E and others, Conrail arranged
for two engineer friends to ride with me on TV-99 and TV-14 from Selkirk to Buffalo and return and it was probably the best
trip of my life.
In my last 15 years or so I allowed nobody to ride the engine without permission and on Metro-North three or four times
various people obtained proper written permission to ride and then I welcomed them. On Conrail I only remember company
officials riding the engine along with employees qualifying.
Today I do not think it is a good idea for an engineer to allow anybody not authorized to ride his or her engine under any
circumstances. I also do not think railfans and others should even entertain the notion of riding a locomotive.
There are various museum, tourist and maybe some short lines where one can still arrange to ride with arrangements and
in the museum operations fans are always welcomed to join up, support and help out, this will most likely get you many
cab rides.
Noel Weaver
 #645956  by rohr turbo
 
Compelling thread!

How do I reconcile my utter disdain for Sanchez's irresponsibility with the wonder and sweetness of PRRtechFan's GG-1 story?

My only cab ride was aboard my beloved turboliner one winter evening in the early 80's. A casual inquiry to the conductor got me through that carpeted door, past the deafening engine, and into the cab. The obliging engineer demonstrated the deadman's touch circuit and explained the cab signals for me. I thrilled at the blowing snow as we topped the century mark between Rensselaer and Schenectady. A few days later it would be back to college and the books, but that night was magic.
 #646001  by CHANGEATJAMAICA
 
When I was a youngster, about the age of 8 or 9 I would watch the LIRR hump freight cars at the Holban Yard from my vantage point at the east end of the outbound platform at the Hillside station with a retired gentleman who had been a motorman on the BMT.
One day, one of the engineers, having seen us there quite often, asked if I'd like to ride in the cab of the his steam engine. With a mixture of anticipation and freight I climbed on board. The duration was short and the environment was hot and noisy. But I've remembered the experience since.
In another vein, back in '55 just out of high school I started working with a major airline. One night, working the midnight shift I called a crew out to test hop a 749a Constellation that had undergone an engine change. The pilot asked if I'd like to come along. I turned the phones over to the dispatch office and "took off", sitting in the seat just behind the captain with head phones and all. I was terrified when he told me to look out the perspex at the number three engine...which wasn't turning! Part of the test hop was to feather the engine and restart it...he did and (thankfully) it did. My next and last ride was in the second officers seat of a 727 on a ferry from LGA TO JFK during which we had to execute a missed approach, which like sausage is something you don't want to know how it's made.
Best regards,
Rodger
 #646122  by djlong
 
I've had two cab rides on Boston's MBTA - both approximately 1976 and were facilitated by a now-deceased individual who worked for the MBTA and is largely responsible for my passing interest in passenger trains becoming somewhat closer to an obsession. I'd mention his name but a lot of people know him and, hindsight being 20/20, what he did was probably illegal.

The Blue Line ride that I had was just that - a ride in the cab. Loved it.

The Orange Line ride was something else. I think I described it on this site before. I was actually driving the train with the operator looking over my shoulder from Malden center to just before the Dudley interlocks (this was about a year after most of the new north-side Orange Line opened but long before the Washington Street El was replaced). After Dudley, he let me take control again all the way to Forest Hills. I will *never* forget this. The only mistake I made was dumping the air pressure at Community College. I remember thinking how easy it was to drive the train and follow the signals. Wasn't at all hard to "hit my marks", stopping the train at the appropriate mark usually hanging from the station ceiling.

Nowadays, when I think about that, I realize that, although the actual operation of the train is VERY easy, everything else is what you really need to be trained for. "If this had been an actual emergency..." - and all the things you need to know.
 #646144  by trainwayne1
 
My first cab ride was in 1954 when I was 6. My grandfather was a former operator/station agent on the NYS&W, and would take me "downtown" to the station in Butler, NJ during the afternoon, where we would visit with the agent. There were still mid-day passenger trains at that time, and when the train from Jersey City pulled in I would get hoisted up onto the RS-1 to ride up into the yard where the engine was run around the train for the eastbound trip, then back to the station to wait for departure time. This was a pretty regular twice a week thing, so I got to know some of the train crews as well as the agents. Fast forward about 6-7 years...after my Grandfather had passed away and my family moved into the homestead. It was only a 15 minute walk to the station, so I would wonder down there during the summers off from school to watch the trains. A westbound Hainesburg freight stopped at the station for orders, and the engineer rocognized me and asked if I wanted to go for a ride...and also told the agent (who also knew my family) to call my home and let my parents know where I was. I was up in the cab of the front engine....there were 5 RS-1's on the train....and I was off. First stop was Green Pond Jct. where cars were set off for the Whaton and Northern (CNJ), and then on to Hainesburg where we exchanged cars with the eastbound L&NE train. It was then back to Sparta Jct. to the interchange with the L&HR and to re-fill the engines with cooling water for the trip up Sparta Mtn. The last stop was back at Green Pond to pick up the cars left by the W&N to go east, then back to Butler, where the train stopped to place several loads of coal at the powerhouse For the American Hard Rubber Company. My Dad was waiting for me and after he exchanged greetings with the crew, took me home to dinner. That was the first of many rides on the NYS&W. Another memorable one was on the second trip of the new GP-18's to Sparta Jct and back in 1963, plus many rides in the RS-1's on the commuter trains. The railroad back then was really a group of people who were like family
In 1968, a year after high school, I walked cold into the EL Hoboken terminal and upstairs to the offices and told one of the secrataries that I was looking for a job on the railroad. A few minutes later she led me into the office of James Lyons, the road foreman of engines. When he asked me why I wanted to work for the railroad, I said "my grandfather worked for the Susquehanna"....He asked his name and 10 minutes later I was filling out an application.......I was called for my first day as a fireman two days later.
 #646183  by Tadman
 
djlong wrote:Nowadays, when I think about that, I realize that, although the actual operation of the train is VERY easy, everything else is what you really need to be trained for. "If this had been an actual emergency..." - and all the things you need to know.
I've been trying to understand how we are going to bring this thread back to Amtrak. It's been quite enjoyable, and for the most part everybody's followed the rules of discussing only pre-certification cab rides - thanks to all the participants. But at some point, we've got to bring the thread back to Amtrak because we're in the Amtrak forum. The above quote is really very interesting because it is the truth about any complicated maneuver, be it moving of a passenger train, ski jumping, or magic tricks. Any idiot can start the trick, it takes an experienced individual to complete the trick/jump/move safely and efficiently.

UPDATE - WE'RE MOVING THIS TO "RAILROAD OPERATIONS" PER DISCUSSION WITH SITE MGMT. Please feel free to discuss any railroad cab rides, but keep it prior to 1992.