Steam Cab Rides

You are in the cab of a steam engine! Actually, several steam engines! There is a brief set-up narration for each engine, then the cab ride itself is audio of the steam engine and crew only, so you experience it the way we did when it was shot.

The first segment with 4-6-0 #1551 was shot in 1994. In this you will see good shots of the engineer, and fireman shoveling coal, as we make a run from Sugar Creek to Baltic. Most of the views are from the fireman’s seat, plus a few others, like behind the engineer, and out the fireman’s side front window.

We take Louisville and Nashville #152 from Frankfort to Midway, Kentucky in 1987. This was the last time the engine went on this route. We see shots behind the engineer, pilot engineer, plus a few views of the fireman shoveling coal. There is a tunnel we go through right away, and Jett HIll is a decent grade. The engine works hard on the grade and moves along at a good pace after topping the grade.

In 1994 we shot Virginia and Truckee 2-8-0 #29 out of Virginia City, Nevada. We rode from Gold HIll back to Virginia City. The engine puts on a nice show, and we get to see views near the engineer, and fireman. This is an oil-burner but you see the fireman working the atomizer, and the engineer working the throttle and reverser.

In 1987 we had the opportunity for a cab ride in Norfolk and Western 2-6-6-4 #1218 as it lead an excursion from Cincinnati to Danville. We are in the cab for a double runby! We see engineer Bob Saxton, and fireman Kelly Lynch working the engine. This is an impressive engine to say the least, and it only ran on mainline trackage between 1987 and 1991.

Our final segment is a cab ride in Frisco 4-8-2 #1522 on her return run of a St. Louis to Decatur, Illinois trip in October of 1988. The train was late departing, which meant we only had a short time with light to do the shooting. We do see a little inside the cab, but mostly we see outside the cab – a moody glow of sunset on the horizon.