For many years, the traditional “opening day” in the tourist railroad biz has been Memorial Day Weekend. So, I suppose it was appropriate that I started my Steam Railroading career 40 years ago this weekend.
Memorial Day Weekend, 1977:
I was hired by the Legend City Amusement Park in Tempe AZ as a crew member on their “train ride”. The Legend City RR had about a mile of 3’ gauge track around their attempt to be a low budget “Knotts Berry Farm” with old west rides, shops and such. It never was much of a success and went into bankruptcy more than once (4 times – I think – I lost count). Anyway, the power for the L.C. RR was 3-foot gauge Crown Metal Products 4-4-0 that was built for them in 1963. Originally it was a coal burner, but the owners soon discovered the issues burning coal in coal-less southern Arizona, and converted it to burn diesel fuel. The story goes that this locomotive was the first 3-foot gauge locomotive they ever built and was tested on the East Broad Top before delivery to Arizona. I was hired as a fireman-hostler, which soon morphed into a fireman-engineer position. I worked for LC for 2 summers before deciding it was time to go on to bigger and better things.
Legend City only lasted a few more years before closing for good. The place was leveled, the land redeveloped. The steam locomotive and cars were sold to an amusement park being built in El Paso, TX. That too went under. The equipment is still stored in El Paso. I understand it is visible from Interstate 10 when you drive through.
Flash forward 10 years – Memorial Day Weekend, 1987:
Memorial Day Weekend, 1987 found me in Ely, Nevada preparing Nevada Northern RY #40 for her new career as a tourist hauler. Kennecott Copper had closed the mines and railroad down a few years before and given the railroad to the town of Ely. Someone contacted me about helping them get started. As the C&TS did not open up until mid-June back then, I had Memorial Day weekend free. So… here I was in Ely, putting high-drivered #40 through her paces pulling a 3-car passenger train up a 3% grade to the Copper Flat Mine. Walking into the shops in Ely was a very spooky deal. Everywhere you turned there were half done projects. The place looked like everyone went home on Friday afternoon – and never came back. The NNRY only ran about 6 weekends that summer, so myself and a guy from over in California split up the weekends. It was a fun deal and nice break from flogging my way up Cumbres every day. I helped the NNRY for a couple of years before turning my full-time attention back to the C&TS.
Ten More Years Later – Memorial Day 1997:
This would have been opening day for the C&TS under George Bartholomew. I don’t need to say much more than that. 2-3 weeks earlier we had run the OY for what turned out to be the last time. In a few weeks, the “Eureka” would set foot on the C&TS for its one-and-only visit. I had cautious optimism at this point. 2 months later I saw what the reality of the situation was….
And Yet, Ten More Years After That – Memorial Day, 2007
Steam returned to La Veta Pass in the form of former Southern Pacific RR 1744 on Memorial Day Weekend of 2007. I had the honor of taking the first steam locomotive across La Veta in nearly fifty years. A nice thing to celebrate my 30th year in the biz. It is a crime that the SLRG Steam program was not promoted in a positive way and endorsed by a caring manager. Steam over La Veta only lasted for six short years, and 1744 was sidelined after one season with significant firebox issues that were never rectified.
Which brings us to the present – Memorial Day Weekend, 2017:
With only 18 months remaining to get my 30 years into Railroad Retirement, I’m working for the good folks at the Strasburg Rail Road in far-off Pennsylvania. Why, you ask? Simple. Two years ago, railroad jobs were not at all plentiful. The loss of coal and oil biz hurt the RR industry badly. There were 24,000 LESS RR jobs than the year before. So, ANY RR job was a tough find. Also, there are very few steam excursion lines that pay into RR Retirement anymore, and none that I know of in the west. So… I had to start widening my search. Strasburg needed help in the summer season, I needed work, so here I am. I have a desire to retire doing what I’ve always loved the most – Running A Steam Locomotive.
I seriously doubt there will be a Memorial Day Weekend, 2027 update. By that time, I will have had my application approved for the Narrow Gauge Curmudgeon Society, and I will be sitting on my porch telling those “damned kids to stay off my lawn…”
If you’re wondering how my math got messed with working in the biz for 40 years and still needing time for my RR Retirement, this is the deal: I worked for a few outfits through the years that did not pay into RR Retirement (like Roaring Camp & Big Trees) also, during my first several years in Chama, us operating guys were lucky to get six months of employment per year, which also shorted the service months total.
