When to call it a day

Thanks to all for the encouragement. I played only a small part in this locomotive's restoration. All of our members worked very hard on it, especially the last year. The big guys to thank is our prez George Niederaurer for his fundraising and organizational skills and the excellent mechanical work done by Dennis Dallesandro. I happen to be the only board member that has experience as an engineman, and I am extraordinarily fortunate to have the privilege of operating 315.

I cannot say I will never make a living working for railroads again, but I would rather not. I enjoy the freedom and the challenges that being an artist offers. Generally I like people in the arts and the inspiration they provide. I am more proud of the achievement of making a viable living,"cut from whole cloth",than I ever will be of my career railroading. Art is a business that at best is difficult and at its worst downright scary. I might fall, but this time I won't be pushed. I am not what could be characterized as a religious man, but I feel a deep-seated conviction this is what the Lord wants me to do with the rest of my days on Earth.

I will run the 315 on the two n.g. roads in the near future. I will run as long as I enjoy doing so. In the meantime, I will show Dennis how to run it and share some running responsibilities with others in our operating crew. The day will come when I won't do that anymore, for one reason or another, and I hope that some younger people will be there to care about the preservation of this locomotive as much as our group has. There are many young readers of this forum, and maybe some of them will be part of something in their future as rewarding as working on 315 has been for our members.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2007 06:31PM by El Coke.