The first time I rode the train was July 1975 and we rode in car 327. B.K. was the conductor and I remember him very well. He highly recomended the Pickle Barrel as the best place to eat and everytime since then, when I ride the train, I always eat there.
My youtube video I had posted on here earlier, shows my brother and me on his knee just before we left Silverton and sitting beside him on the return trip.
The interesting thing about that particular trip is, after all the years he had worked on the Silverton, this was the first time his daughter had ridden the train and to really see him as he worked.
Dan Hetzel