I’ve been working on the railroad, all the livelong daaaayyyyy…………
Miraculously, I didn’t have that song stuck in
my head for all of last Friday. Maybe it’s because I was so busy
mind-melding with the various and sundry steam locomotives I’ve
encountered over the years and never took the time to learn the lyrics.
Or maybe it’s just that I was otherwise preoccupied on Friday; as noted
below, ’twas the best day I’ve yet had workin’ on the railroad. Quite
often, I can’t help wondering how many people join the engineer
training program expecting to be trained as engineers right off the
bat, not realising that they have to be firemen first. And even if that
be the case, where’s the figurative sweat? Firing isn’t easy, but when
you work at it enough to whittle your imperfections down to nothing, it
shouldn’t even ruffle your feathers!
Not to mention that there are few better ways to work off your Thanksgiving dinner. 
Between New Hope and Lahaska, Pennsylvania,
there is a hill. This hill is so tarnacious steep that a diesel
locomotive pulling only two cars has to open three out of eight notches
on its throttle. So picture how fun it is to try and keep a steam
locomotive going at full blast when it’s pulling four cars up that
accursed grade. Not that a “diseasel” (as one of my engineer buddies
calls ‘em) could ever outdo a steamer going upgrade if handled
properly, and thereby hangs a tale. Late morning to
afternoon, with plenty of supervision, I fired the train up the
hill four or five times – miraculously, kept a halfway decent head of
steam every time, and even identified a few things I really need to
work on next time. But this is a very grouchy old steam locomotive that
dates back to 1925, and tends to have issues with its water system,
whether it’s a sluggish injector or a cruddy sight glass. It’s a
common conception on this railroad that if a man can get that engine up
that hill pulling a loaded train, a man can get any engine anywhere in
the country. A steam locomotive is as close to a living being as any
machine can get, and if this one is behaving itself, you’ve gotta be
doing something right.
Not to mention that I am quite enamoured of the stack-talk when it’s
climbing the hill at full throttle! When it’s fast and heavy, and the
train is moving at speed, I’m just ecstatic with the head of steam
we’ve got.
Sooooo….later that afternoon, when we’d
topped off the tender and were waiting about fifteen minutes for our
next run, there were several parents and small children on the platform
feasting their eyes on our iron horse. The fireman was doing some
ground work at the rear of the train, so the engineer and I, on a pure
whim, invited the kids to take a look around the cab a few at a time.
The looks on their faces were nothing short of priceless! When I showed
them the inside of the firebox, they were just amazed. They were
absolutely fascinated with the backhead (which is where all the
controls are located), but for several of them, the big moment was when
they got their pictures taken with the engineer, who proceeded to let
them blow the whistle. Normally I’m not very good with kids, but just
these few minutes of letting awestruck little ones investigate the cab
of a working steam engine really made the day. 
Speaking of the engineer, he’s got a rep for
being a tough cookie. I worked with him once before, and I found that
out firsthand, as I was awfully inexperienced as both fireman and
ground worker. Freakishly enough, though, this is the first time I’ve
fired since then, and he was much, much easier to get along with! We
were sharing stories, joking, working closely together – this time he
didn’t even come down onto the engine deck to take the scoop and show
me what I was doing wrong. If the engine cooperated and the engineer
didn’t give me a hard time…well, I must have gotten the stamp of
approval from at least one of them!
Seriously, though, I think I’m getting the hang of this.
There are still a lot of things that need to be honed, though. For
instance, we did three runs early in the evening under the guise of the
Polar Express. Essentially it’s an onboard Christmas party, where
conductors and trainmen serve muffins, hot chocolate, rolls, and
marshmallows to the families packing the train – possibly also reading
the book to the kids, for all I know. I was steadying my post in the
engine, but it was the first time I’d ever fired at night; THAT was not
quite as much fun. ‘Cuz when that fire is at full blast, glaring
white-hot through the gaping maw of the fire doors, you see nothing but
a big blue glob for a very, very long time. 
Mind you, I’d wear sunglasses, as I usually do while stoking, but that
kinda blinds you to what’s going on in the rest of the cab, now doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, I guess there’s no good way to fire in the dark until
you get used to what you’re doing. Oh, but I am getting used to it -
even though I’ve got a long ways to go yet.
A couple of months ago, I did a bus
trip to the Renaissance Faire out by Harrisburg, and there I
encountered a few guys from another coach company (one that I really,
really wanted to apply to at the time). Over the course of our
conversation, I mentioned my side job. When this reached the ear of one
of these gents, his face lit up and he said, “Oh, no kidding! You’re a
railroader?”
I think that was when it really struck how
special and important this railroad job is to me. It struck even harder
last Friday, when I realised that there is something truly special
about that line of work. When you’re pulling into the station waving to
bystanders, when you’re blowing the whistle in greeting, when you’re
coupling the train with dozens of people looking on, when you’re
shovelling coal with mad abandon to make sure that they get to where
they want to go, that’s a special gift that not too many people get a
chance to possess. I’m very grateful to have gotten that chance and to
be put to the test, see if I really can do it, because this is the job
I’ve wanted literally all my life, and it only gained importance last
Friday. Take a look at yourself someday and ask yourself with all the
seriousness you can muster, “What do I want to do with myself for the
rest of my life?” and don’t stop thinking about it until you’ve found
an answer. You might not be able to implement it right away, but if you
find something that’s really, really important to you and you know
it’ll make a difference in your life and the lives of countless
others…
Go for it.
You can’t imagine how much confusion that would terminate…
P’raps some time later this year when it cools off, I’ll be able to take her again… 
*draws sword* 
