Tales about running trains alone.

Over my long railroad career I ran lots of light engines and even brought a car or two with me. The last year I worked in Chama I was on work trains with diesel #19, and found myself running solo. Boy, you sure miss that conductor, especially when things go wrong. You are on your own, and if things go wrong, you better deal with it somehow. One sunny day I stopped to clear a scheduled train at Toltec Siding, perhaps the most beautiful location anywhere on the old narrow gauge, and certainly my favorite. Well, the engines wouldn't start! I managed to get up to the road and hitchhiked to Osier, where I got a ride out. Another time I was taking some cars to Antonito. One bearing was trying to burn up, so I had to stop frequently and repack it. At Lava I had an opportunity to stop and look at something along the tracks I had spied for years. It turned out to be an ancient (1887) journal box lid, which made a great souvenir. My day was made! Alas, by the time I rolled into Antonito, the journal box was afire! I put it out and happily, Marvin was able to repair the journal.