Thanks for giving us a "home" here, Otto!
Noel brings up some valuable points concerning the railroad experience that can be obtained at your local "heritage railway," as our friends over the pond call such operations.
A bunch of us from the RMNE were talking about the current railroad employment situation - many of today's railroads no longer have long waiting lists of potential employees awaiting employment. Many of today's "young'uns" have little interest in jobs that require working for 24/7 types of jobs in sometimes harsh environments. Although it was and still is not advisable to mention rail hobby interests to potential rail employers in many cases, these times might be changing. Commercial railroads might do well to recognize well-run heritage lines as a sort of "farm team" system as a sort of basic training experience for obtaining operating or shopcraft skills. The Valley Railroad is a good example of an operation that had a well-regarded operating environment where a number of former VRR staff members have gone on to careers on Amtrak and other lines.
Perhaps the western class-1 lines, which seem to be hurting the most for employees from what I've read, are already recruiting this way.
I find it hard to believe that I have been involved with historical railroading for over 40 years now - it has been a rewarding experience. And one of the greatest rewards for me is to help connect retired or veteran railroaders with preserved equipment from their past - Noel certainly seemed to enjoy his experience riding on the NH 529.
Noel brings up some valuable points concerning the railroad experience that can be obtained at your local "heritage railway," as our friends over the pond call such operations.
A bunch of us from the RMNE were talking about the current railroad employment situation - many of today's railroads no longer have long waiting lists of potential employees awaiting employment. Many of today's "young'uns" have little interest in jobs that require working for 24/7 types of jobs in sometimes harsh environments. Although it was and still is not advisable to mention rail hobby interests to potential rail employers in many cases, these times might be changing. Commercial railroads might do well to recognize well-run heritage lines as a sort of "farm team" system as a sort of basic training experience for obtaining operating or shopcraft skills. The Valley Railroad is a good example of an operation that had a well-regarded operating environment where a number of former VRR staff members have gone on to careers on Amtrak and other lines.
Perhaps the western class-1 lines, which seem to be hurting the most for employees from what I've read, are already recruiting this way.
I find it hard to believe that I have been involved with historical railroading for over 40 years now - it has been a rewarding experience. And one of the greatest rewards for me is to help connect retired or veteran railroaders with preserved equipment from their past - Noel certainly seemed to enjoy his experience riding on the NH 529.
The CP 4-6-2 #1246, the E-33 electric (Conrail), the two SW-1s, the Alco FA-1, and a whole plethora of other goodies will run this Saturday at high noon under clear skies and I'll be there to photograph the whole thing, especially the pair of Amtrak P42s that are coming up the Valley line to switch out the train. Rumor has it that they may also pull an excursion on the VRR, with passengers riding in the electric MU car. When it heads west on the Shore Line to NHV, I've heard they're gonna raise the pans up on the 4601(300) to see if she still has some juice left in her. Not bloody likely 
