Re: How I caught the bug!!!!!!!!

It seems that you are correct Mike, there aren't that many young people on this board. I myself am 16, and I caught the bug in stages, I guess. I first rode behind narrow gauge steam when I was only 2 years old on the Georgetown Loop behind 2-8-0 #40. For a while I was scared of steam locos because of the whistle, but I always loved something about trains. I really did not become a narrow gauge fan until I was about 9. This stems largely from the fact that my dad worked for the CB&Q in Chicago, and he always liked to go out and watch standard gauge diesels. In 1994, however, something happened that hooked me on ng steam for the rest of time. On our annual trip on the Georgetown Loop that year, we rode behind #40 again, and we stayed after the last train had arrived to watch #40 be fueled. When the crew backed her up to the engine house to wait out the night, the engineer, Wendy, invited me up into the cab and let me blow the whistle. That was the ultimate thrill for me, as I had always wanted to blow the whistle on that very locomotive! The atmosphere inside that cab was heaven on earth in every sence of the word. The air was warm and humid from the steam coming from the pipes outside and the boiler and firebox directly in front of me. To stand in 40's cab was to completely block out time and any sence of the outside world. Everything consetraits on that one period in history, when steam and ng tracks conquered the mountains. I plan to work there as an engineer, and perhaps be one of the lucky people that are able to live their dreams in their jobs.
Shane