This turned up on Bachmann's discussion page, and it looks like it might be appropriate here--a Charles Kuralt profile of Billy Byrd in 1983, working on the then-steam-powered Crab Orchard & Egyptian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8g01-uCTpg

Thanks for the link!

I visited CO&E as a little boy (thanks to my mother) in 1981. I had seen CO&E in Trains and had written ahead of my visit. I had a nice tour and a cab ride.

That's real neat, I've shared it with some friends who knew Billy real well. Be interesting to hear what they say.

Billy Byrd, often made the drive to Chattanooga to mark up as a regular engineer at the Tennessee Valley Railroad. Billy was a walking/talking advertisement for the entire steam tourist industry and loved by all that knew him.

Have never seen a strobe light on a steam locomotive before!

Joshua

Thanks for posting the link!
Best one that has been on here in a long time!
Bruce

Billy was a fine man. I visited him both at TVRM and at his home in Kentucky. He truly loved steam driven equipment; locomotives first and anything else after that. When I visited him at home, he fired up his 1/2 scale Case traction engine and let me drive it. I do the same thing today with my 5/8 scale traction engine as I like to see others enjoy it, too.

Our new L&N video is dedicated to Billy's memory and has a scene of him running TVRM's 610.

-Jim Herron

He was also featured in Charles Kuralt's book related to the series.

I remember getting called to run in his place due to him not feeling well and returning home to Madisonville a few days early. He then went to the hospital where he passed on a Sunday morning. Billy Byrd was absolutely one of the best storytellers ever. He could have won a storytelling competition with his talent. The best part was that most of his stories were railroad related and most of those were set during the steam era. Oddly, a couple of the funniest stories he ever told were about him and his wife at home. Perhaps one day his stories will be compiled and published. I know some of them were documented by a college library or archive, though I don't recall the details.

He was, by far, the easiest engineer at TVRM to fire for from a work standpoint. Less coal and water used than anyone, but speed did not suffer in the least. A locomotive at speed not blasting a grade with tonnage should sound "like eggs fryin' at the stack" with just an ever so slight light gray or brown haze indicating a good fire.

Bob, thanks for posting the photo of Billy and our late conductor Nelson Seaman. They met at TVRM and were fast friends. I suspect their shared close age helped a great deal in that respect. They are both missed greatly.

Best,
Michael Brown

As so often seems to happen, I'm looking for one thing, and find something else--in this case, more footage of CO&E 17--alas, not with Billy Byrd, as far as I can tell. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=en ... gkWLw1XJKY

A promotion for a commercial video of the CO&E:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9LPUglu8Qs

Other material, pretty grainy, but where else can you find more on the 17?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN9DrtKfVJM

Why does all the good stuff go away?

Why do all the good people go away too soon?

I will always cherish my time with Billy. Like our beloved L&N, Gone But Not Forgotten.