"Light it, Howell!"--Tire Changing at Ironville (SR),ca.1976

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 18, 2010 9:38 pm

Video clip from YouTube, on the Steam Central site; check who all is in it:

http://steamcentral.com/

Enjoy.

Frisco1522 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:06 pm

Too bad it isn't lighter. Just a WAG, but could the AFT guy have been Scott Lindsay? I thought I saw curly hair and glasses.

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:28 am

Slight correction, "Ironville" should be "Irondale."

The AFT fellow does wear glasses, but I can't tell what his hair is like, most of it is under a cap. What he does have looks a little long, though, which was the style then; I had more hair myself, and it didn't have such a big hole in the middle of it like it does now!

Ron Goldfeder · **Posted:** Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:31 pm

Could the AFT guy be Steve Wickersham?

srwicker · **Joined:** Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:18 pm **Posts:** 1

The AFT guy in the SR "film" is indeed Steve Wickersham. The time period was sometime between January and April of 1976 when the 2101 (AFT 1 at the time) was in the SR shop at Irondale to complete necessary work that we were not able to complete in the "30 Day Miracle" when we pulled 2101 from the scrap yard in early 2005. Neither Scott Lindsey nor Bob Saxtan were part of our team at the time (both were still in High School). Scott joined us in 1977 at Saucon Creek and Bob joined us in 1978 in Reading.
I was 23 when this film was made. As a child of the 60s, and from the NY Metro area, my hair was not considered long at the time, but our old Boiler Maker Joe Karal used to threaten me with the acetylene torch all the time.

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 24, 2010 11:10 pm

More footage from Irondale, this time in May of 1994; 4501 and a stripped down 1218 are featured.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shM_bMXTTbE

Enjoy.

co614 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 25, 2010 5:14 am

Yes indeed Mr. Steve Wickersham one of the unsung heroes of the successful steam side of the epic journey of the AFT. He and the others on the steam crews spent untold hours laboring in far less than ideal conditions performing all those critical tasks needed to keep these beloved machines roadworthy.

Steve learned the boiler side of his craft under the late, venerable, master ex-NKP boilermaker Joe Karal from Conneaut,Pa.

Also clearly shown in that video is Mr. Bill Purdie whose passing we mourn this week.

R.I.P. Mr Purdie.

Ross Rowland