The Heber Valley Railroad
utweyesguy@aol.com

I have riden and fired for many engineers over the years and there are sevral that come to mind. John Bagley (spelling) a road forman on the old Southern could really handle the locomotive and train over the rollercoaster track between Atlanta and Chatanooga. He would tell the fireman when he was going to work the engine harder or when he was shutting off. A big help when you are triing to learn the raod. Frank Collins was another good one as well as Jack on the J or the A. My favorite Engineer has to be Bill Purdie. He got the most out of ever steam locomotive he ever ran. Pulling all those trips with 4501, 722, 630,and 750. No Super power there. He may have not been the best train handler but when he had to get the train over the road he was the man I would want in the engineers seat.

On a side not what about you worst Steam Engineers

> Bill Purdie was a machinist at Pegram Shops
> in Atlanta during the 40's and 50's.

> Neither ever held seniority as engineers on
> the Southern.

Hayes, Jimbo is right on this one. I believe Mr. Purdie would protest at the notion he was a fine engineer. In the early days of the program, when there were still steam-qualified employees running trains, "Dad" didn't even run all that much. It was only as the steam veterans retired or lost their skills that he started running more.

But when he was in the zone, the man could do no wrong. I still remember my last cab ride with Bill Purdie - Halloween night 1985 on S&A 4-6-2 750. It was a typical New Georgia RR "Atlanta Loop" trip, and I had arranged to do some night photos after the trip. Just before departure Steve Polk said "want to ride?"

Did any sane person ever say "no" to that question?

Coming out of Emory on the SAL main, there's a very slight upgrade. Purdie had 750 hooked up juuuusssst right, and we were doing 60mph in spots. Flying through the dark, laying down a whistle at the few grade crossings . . . very atmospheric.

As to my "favorites," in addition to Purdie I'd have to:

list James Carlisle on the Mississippian (I learned a lot from that man)

punch out another chad for Frank Collins (last seen running Js on the Pearly Gates and Beulah Land Central), and

add Steve Lee to the list. Even if the SOB does have the IC and the Rock Island in his bloodstream, he didn't turn out too bad ;-)

And Earl Knoob. Earl always seems to be one curve and one brake application ahead. And he's done a good job of training a lot of others, which in this day and age is pretty important. And he was smart enough to marry Carmen ;-)

JAC

I nominate the late Dixon Blanchard of the New Hope and Ivyland. Dixon looked like Santa with a long white hair and a white beard, and had a personality to match. He was Santa on our Christmas specials and the kids came back every year to see him.

In the Summer, he was engineer on the steam engine and still had the hair and beard. The kids would look up, and you could see them figure it out: of course, in the summer Santa would be a steam engineer!!!

Electric City Trolley Museum Association

...tis indeed an honor to be mentioned on the same page and considered amoung the likes of Misters Purdie, Carlisle, Collins and Lee.

Back in the mid-late 1980's I was oiling around the engine in Antonito when an old guy came up to me and said "I used to run these engines for the Southern Ry". I didn't take much notice then as in the 1980's I met at least one old steam head a week. Most of them worked for the RR a week and quit.

That night I checked my mail and found my then-new Trains Mag with the news item "Bill Purdie Retires", with a pic of him at the ceremony.

.....damn that was the guy I saw in Antonito this morning! I blew off Bill Purdie!

Rest assured I never pulled that faux pax again.

...until this nice guy came up to me as I was oiling around in Antonito and said "we were doing a great job". I smiled, thanked him, turned the other way and walked right into a TV camera. I asked my fireman - an Antonito local - who that was. He off handed said. "oh, thats Roy Romer the governor of Colorado, he's down here campaigning..."

> Charlie Kachel of the B M & R
I will always remember Charlie's performance on the 2102 coming back from Philly to Reading on the
RCT&HS' Iron Horse Ramble Sept. 15, 1985... leaving the chasers in the dust at Perkiomen Junction.
I also remember Charlie jumping out of "the seat"
to check out a good looking "chicken" on the parking lot at Temple.
He always said there were two things he could still do (in retirement):
Pull the throttle, and

In my short 6 year career at Tweetsie, there are two men that seem to deserve a mention on this list. First is R. Frank Coffey (1911-1999), he worked for Tweetsie from 1957-99. He was the mastermind behind the building of Tweetsie's equipment and establishing what is now Dollywood.
He saved and restored ET&WNC #12, brought WP&Y #70,71,190,192 and the frame of 72 to the Appalachian Mtns. He was involved in many other resortations. But he was one of the early pioneers of restoring steam. His work can still be seen at Tweetsie when u see #12 or #190 running around the loop. As for the second, it was the man that trained me. Matt Ernst, he was the chief locomotive engineer from 1988-2002. He would always come to work with a smile and greet all who would come to ride. He ran the engines about as perfect as anyone could. He seemed to always know what it took to get every once of power out of our engines and do it smoothly everytime. On his last day of work many former employees came in to here his whistle one more time. Its hard to follow in the footsteps of someone like.

http://tweetsie.com
tssmith@boone.net

I'd like to nominate the late Ben Kline, with his signature black derby hat, making number 90 talk it up on Henry K. Long curve on the Strasburg RR. Back in Iron Horse Ramble days on the Reading, I remember Mr. Kline walking through the cars, wearing his derby and a black tee shirt with white lettering. The front of the shirt read "Steam is clean" and the back of the shirt read "Coal smoke is good for you." With all the enviro-wacko's out there today, I still chuckle every time I think of that shirt.

bruceman@stargate.net

> ...tis indeed an honor to be mentioned on
> the same page and considered amoung the
> likes of Misters Purdie, Carlisle, Collins
> and Lee.

Well, consider the source ;-)

So, can Danah and I interest you and Carmen in a trip to St. Louis at the end of the month?

JAC

It is hard to pick a "favorite" (me, maybe? lol), but certainly one of the most colorful and the best, bar none, ever at TVRM was the late Billy Byrd, a 47 year veteran of the L&N who had fired and run steam on the L&N (and other roads when times were slow) beginning with the Nashville Terminal Company in 1939. Mr. Byrd wasn't actually promoted until after the Dismal Grinders came, but he had spent enough time on the right hand side of the cab to become quite adept as a true artist with a throttle and reverse lever. He consistently used less water and coal than anyone else, though there are some that are close. Knowing that Mr. Byrd was coming to work as engineer when you were scheduled to fire was almost like having the day off, since you could spend more time on the seatbox and less tending the fire on TVRM's local. And, to top it off, Mr. Byrd was one of those persons with a natural talent to tell stories and enjoyed telling them. Most of his contemporaries departed long before him, but thanks to him there are several Henderson Division employees who will live on in the minds of those of us who loved to hear about them - Mr. Pardington, Arthur "Snout" Bonham, Alvin Toombs, "Pipi" Morgan, "Ox" Kellog, "Bad-eye" Simmons, Hoss Blaylock, and countless others whom I never met except through Billy's stories.

My second vote is for Jack Taylor, whose affable personality and undeniable love of what he was doing while on the road with the NS program in later years was accentuated by the fact that, with a pipe always in hand or hanging squarely from his jaw, he looked the part, as if he belonged in the cab of the A or the J.

There are so many others, each with their own unique qualities, that it's hard not mention them, Paul Brock, RFE Walter Dove, RFE Charlie Case, Frank Clodfelter, RFE Jim Collins of Knoxville whose fatal heart attack likely began while on a steam trip in the mid-80's, Doyle McCormick, and, of course, P. T. Barnum's reincarnation - Ross Rowland and countless others who ran long after the fires went cold and steam faded from the pops in regular service.

Michael Brown, Engineer - TVRM, Conductor - NS

> Somebody started a unique thread on
> Trainorders that deserves to be on RYPN. Who
> are your favorite steam engineers of the
> modern era, and what are their best moments?

> It's a nice chance to give a shout-out to
> the talent behind the chuff!

> Paul Nichini's work with #614 between
> Suffern and Moodna, NY is mentioned. That's
> one of may all time favorites. That's a
> tough stretch for a big steamer in the
> modern age and Paul ran her very well.

> Rob


Rebuilding Yesterday for Tomorrow
newrvier400@cs.com

> I have riden and fired for many engineers
> over the years and there are sevral that
> come to mind. John Bagley (spelling) a road
> forman on the old Southern could really
> handle the locomotive and train over the
> rollercoaster track between Atlanta and
> Chatanooga. He would tell the fireman when
> he was going to work the engine harder or
> when he was shutting off. A big help when
> you are triing to learn the raod. Frank
> Collins was another good one as well as Jack
> on the J or the A. My favorite Engineer has
> to be Bill Purdie. He got the most out of
> ever steam locomotive he ever ran. Pulling
> all those trips with 4501, 722, 630,and 750.
> No Super power there. He may have not been
> the best train handler but when he had to
> get the train over the road he was the man I
> would want in the engineers seat.

I have to say Bill Purdie has my vote, mainly because he seemes to have respect for anyone who is willing to work, especially if they have a bit of mechanical inclination (probably due to his background). This was true even for the new guys like me who had not grown up on excursion trains or at the museum like most of my slightly younger co-volunteers. Working with Bill in the first year or so of New Georgia Railroad operations was a real learning experience, and I was very disappointed when Bill left. My interests were in learning the machanical aspects of S&A 750 (this was pre-A&WP 290 days) and who better to learn from than the man who kept all those SR and NS excursion locomotives going! A proud moment for me was a time at the Pullman Shops when we needed a simple replacement shim and Bill threw the job to me. A couple of measurements, finding the proper stock and bending the stock to the proper shallow "U" shape, and on the engine in about 15 minutes. It fit perfectly with no side slop. Bill said nothing, but he didn't have to. I knew he was pleased.

syfrettinc@bellsouth.net

> Hayes, Jimbo is right on this one. I believe
> Mr. Purdie would protest at the notion he
> was a fine engineer. In the early days of
> the program, when there were still
> steam-qualified employees running trains,
> "Dad" didn't even run all that
> much. It was only as the steam veterans
> retired or lost their skills that he started
> running more.

> But when he was in the zone, the man could
> do no wrong. I still remember my last cab
> ride with Bill Purdie - Halloween night 1985
> on S&A 4-6-2 750. It was a typical New
> Georgia RR "Atlanta Loop" trip,
> and I had arranged to do some night photos
> after the trip. Just before departure Steve
> Polk said "want to ride?"

> Did any sane person ever say "no"
> to that question?

> Coming out of Emory on the SAL main, there's
> a very slight upgrade. Purdie had 750 hooked
> up juuuusssst right, and we were doing 60mph
> in spots. Flying through the dark, laying
> down a whistle at the few grade crossings .
> . . very atmospheric.

> JAC

John, thanks for posting the photo of Mr. Purdie. That is a view I, and undoubtedly many others, will have in our minds for many years.

I don't remember if I was on the Halloween train or not (probably not), but the run out of Emory and then down across Peachtree Creek next to Clairmont Road was always the favorite spot for me on the loop trips. I got a bit of video shot from the tender on several trips, and one clip in particular that I shot from Clairmont Road in the early evening as Bill brought 750 across the P'tree Creek trestle with that beautiful whistle wailing.


syfrettinc@bellsouth.net