I was invited to ride the cab of SRR 630 at TVRM in 1981 as a kid, and paid $10 extra to ride the cab the last time I was there in September (a GP-7, though).

Our Cab Rides are $30 each. Probably less than half the runs have a paying passenger up there.

The Engineer for a Day program is on the books, though un-used. We've given away two of them, as some type of prize, and only one person redeemed their ticket.

James

James -

I'm a bit surprised at this. We have a Guest Engineer Program at HVRM, and it is quite popular. We only offer so many time slots per season, and they have always sold out. I'm not sure that we still offer cab rides. We did at one time, but there were some complaints by the crews in the locomotive, and I think that were abandoned. I am not sure that we have reinstituted them.

Les (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, IN)

I haven't yet paid for a cab ride account of being fortunate for having the opportunity to ride steam when it was still in service. If the chance on the right engine came up, I'd sure consider it.

Since they are a bit harder to come by, I have pulled out the checkbook for rides in a P-40, P-51, B-17, Douglas SBD and a T-6. The late Danny Summers of Idaho woudn't take any money for 55 minutes in his AD-5, so I gave a donation to the local air museum who had helped get me & my son the ride.

Just like steam locomotives, if you ever get a chance in one of these, do not pass it up. And for what it's worth, the slow flying Stearman is one of the best rides there is.

For a 12 mile roundtrip in a diesel-electric, we take cab riders on the San Diego & Arizona Railway out of Campo - run by the volunteers of the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum. We charge $35 - regular coach is $15. We allow a switch at the end - so that two people can share the experience.

I'm not sure what you mean by "on the books", but it's apparently not on your website, so it's not something anyone can find out about. Maybe that's your intention, since you say "un-used". If you do intend to sell it, it should be easier to find on your site.

(I checked since my railroad links directory has an "engineer for a day" category and I was going to add the link, but I can't locate it.)

I am lucky enough to have the Mt Rainier Scenic and Chehalis operations close to where I live. I've paid for cab rides on each more than a few times, although prices on each have shot up a lot in recent years. It's still worth it for what you get. Hardly any 'normal' person can say they've ridden the cab of a steam locomotive. I haven't count them all but I'd think I've ridden the cabs of at least half a dozen over the years, including one of the last commercially operating steam engines in America, the North American Rayon Porter Fireless 0-6-0 that used to operated at Elizabethton, TN. But that was way back in the '80s...I've been lucky enough to fly in a B-17, B-24, B-25, P-51 (in formation with two WW2 bombers after 'bouncing' them over the Gulf of Mexico, the experience of a lifetime), T-6 and a few other WW2 planes, not counting the modern warplanes I've flown on in active service. Oh, and my first airplane flight ever was in a Ford Tri-Motor. All of them 'volunteer' rides or just being in the right place at the right time. I fully intend on paying for my first warplane ride ever the next time I see the CAF's B-29 Superfortress. Not too many people in their early 40s can say they've flown on as many varied airplane types as I can.
I also agree with the open cockpit comment. Flying at over 400MPH in a fighter plane has a very high level of cool points, but not much for comfort.
Anyone who thinks that a few of Benjamins is a lot for a 'engineer for a day' experience ought to look into the cost of flying in a fighter plane for an hour or so.

Not to hijack Bobharbison's thread, but I wouldn't mind seeing a current list of operations that actually allow pulling the throttle. I was lucky enough to ride in the cabs of both ES&NA #1 and #201 and am waiting on the possibility of 1630 at IRM to be put back into service for my chance.

Darren

It would indeed be great to see a list somewhere of operations that give cab rides. Some offer them but have no signs saying so. I have ridden a few steam operations over my lifetime where I found out they offered cab rides but I didn't know it until years after the fact.

Have you tried "RailroadData.com" It's a wonderfully useful railroad links directory. (Ok, I'm a bit biased).

Here's the directory of "Engineer Experience" programs.
http://www.railroaddata.com/rrlinks/Eng ... _Programs/

Some are no doubt out of date, they seem to change rather frequently. If your operation has one and isn't listed, let me know and I'll add it.

We have cab rides at the Big South Fork Scenic Railway in Stearns, KY. (www.bsfsry.com) Cab rides are $35 or $45 which includes a Coal Miner's Lunch. This is for a cab ride in the diesel, usually an EMD SW9.

Cab ride policy for the steam locomotive, which will be in service soon, has not yet been established.

By 'on the books' I mean that there seems to be a rough procedure for it. But as indicated, we don't offer it on a normal basis.

Based on the talk that I've heard of it, there are few inquiries from the outside asking, and little interest from the inside to push it. If one of those increased, the other probably would also. The one individual who hasn't claimed their award yet (from last year some time) has done more to harm the program than the one who did claim theirs has helped it.

James

How did he manage that? I think you said you gave them away as a prize, and he didn't use it. What's the harm in that?

How soon is soon? I can't help but notice that the last update to the locomotive restoration pictorial on the website is 9 years old.

Darren -

A lot of that info is in this thread. Maybe someone wants to list everything on one page. Anyone care to volunteer? Simple list. Name of railroad; cost; type of motive power ought to do it.

Les