SVRY EFD review

I had planned to post this even before Taylor tried to break my arm, but hey, you can't blame him for being proud of what they have to offer up at McEwen.

My wife's cousin Art and myself both got a chance to participate in the Sumpter Valley's Engineer for a Day program last Friday (7/27/07), and it was all I hoped for and more!

We actually arrived at McEwen Thursday afternoon and got to meet the folks in the shop (thanks Jerry, Scott and Taylor for all the info!). They are certainly impressive with the tasks they have taken on and accomplished up there. The shop is roomy enough to work in (especially when compared to the Chama shop) and they will be doing more finishing work on it after the Porter diesel is sent off to the Georgetown Loop.

Our EFD day started a little bit after 7:00 AM Friday (we just couldn't seem to get our wheels turning down the highway as soon as we had planned), so by the time we arrived, the 19 had been pulled out of the shop and it was time to get the air compressor hooked up and the fire lit.

Dan was our mentor and showed/explained all that was involved with setting up the proper oil fire.

Then it was time to lube the 19. If you have never seen or done this, you will be amazed at the number of grease fittings and where you have to find them! Art and I both got to get good and greasy reaching into some of those, and Art even went with Casey under the 19 to get to the inner fittings (my knees would have protested something awfull down in that pit).

After a while, the 19 was moved to the oil tank for another 600 gallons of fuel oil (Dan says they burn used motor oil).

By about 11:00 we had enough steam to get our train put together (6 freight cars and a caboose), and it was time for Art to take the engineer's seat. My wife and his wife and boys were our passengers in the caboose (of course they were also our official photographers while we were preparing the engine).

Pretty soon, we were off with our train to Sumpter! Dan was our supervisor, Gary was our fireman, and Taylor was our Conductor (as well as providing the entertainment for our families in the caboose!).

The trip to Sumpter from McEwen rises 300 feet in the 5-6 miles of track, with the steepest grade just when you arrive at Sumpter. The 19 doesn't even seem to know it is pulling a train; we never slipped a wheel all day.

We stopped just short of the street crossing in Sumpter and while Taylor and Gary stayed with the train, the rest of us had lunch at the "Scoot and Steam" (I hope I got the name right) restaurant. Had a great talk with Dan and Scott during lunch and learned a lot more about the history of the railroad.

After lunch, it was back to the train with Art running again for the return to McEwen. Since there is not yet a loop track at Sumpter, we backed the train to the South Sumpter siding in order to run the 19 around to the back. Taylor set the hand brakes, and Art ran the 19 around and coupled to the caboose (nice job from a first timer!), then we ran another brake test before getting under way again.

When we got back to McEwen, it was time to take water, so Art got the 19 stopped at the tank and Dan got up on the tender to add water.

We then had to uncouple and run around the train so I could have my turn running up to Sumpter and back.

The routine was the same as it was for Art. I had previously driven the #40 at Nevada Northern, but that was just running the engine light, and did not include any switching moves, so this was a whole new experience for me too.

I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this! The equipment is great and the people are as nice as you could possibly hope to meet (even Taylor! ;-).

If you ever even had a thought of wanting to feel what this is like, DON'T MISS THIS ONE!!! I don't know if this program will continue for many years in the future (anyone have a crystal ball handy?) since there are always unknowns that change things, but this is pure fun, and you will be kicking yourself if you have an opportunity to do this and pass it up.

Thanks guys! Hope to do it again soon.

Rick Renz