The thread below about losing of the “old steam hands” (and the need to bring younger folks on board) got me thinking the last few days. I’d like to recall an afternoon I spent at a tourist railroad late last year. I’m going to throw out a few thoughts for discussion, to see what some f you might think. I won’t mention the railroad as its not pertinent and I don’t want this to go off in a different direction.

To my point, late last year several friends and I visited a tourist railroad here in the east. My friends and I are all involved in railway preservation in one way or another and all under the age of 35. We had occasion to talk to another friend of ours who was the engineer on the day we made our visit. He’s maybe a generation older than I am, but certainly “young” by comparison to some of the “old hands” we’ve been talking about. We got to talking in the cab of the engine, a steam engine being a nice place to chat on a cold November day. The conversation went from this engine, to that engine and eventually we started fondly recalling some of the older folks who worked steam and became involved with different tourist lines or museums in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Our engineer friend then brought up an interesting point, in having some of the older railroaders involved years ago may have actually done some unintentional harm in the long run.

His opinion was that alot of these older railroaders had the run/fired locomotives without much thought towards long term conservation or preservation. In this I mean they came from railroads where, if the machine broke, there was always another in the roundhouse to use. This mentality my friend said was particularly acute after World War II where engines were run into the ground without much care, then discarded as diesels were purchased. Yes I’m sure it was different in the depression and during the war where you had to get every mile you could out a machine as money or materials were hard to come by, but consider this: A large portion of the qualified steam guys in the 1960’s/1970’s (and even today) hired on the railroads during the war or soon after. You could see where the “run them till they give up” mentality could develop.

Now think about the generation of steam railroaders that came after, the kids who might have stood trackside in the 1960Â’s or 197oÂ’s watching some of these old-time hoggers roll buy on some fan trip. I for one believe that the people who operate steam equipment have a greater sense of conservation than their predecessors did 20 years ago. Certainly much more thought is given to keeping engines economically viable over the coming decades. Decisions are often made with the realities of a consumable artifact as part of the picture. This all leads me to a few questions.

Do we in fact have a more conscientious breed of steam railroaders today than we did 20 years ago?

Did a larger percentage of engineers/fireman run the first generation of steam perhaps harder than they should have?

Is the equipment we'll be running in the next 20 years perhaps better off with this new generation?

IÂ’m certainly not intending to slight the railroaders of the past, the old hands who in essence kept our craft alive. Without this generation of railroaders, we wouldnÂ’t have much of what we have today. They are an invaluable source and in no way would I attempt to diminish their contributions.

Now-a-days every tourist railroad I visit, the staff seems to be getting younger, or at least there are more and more younger people. The discussions I have or over hear tend to be about keeping their engine (or the railroad) going for future generations. I’ve heard more and more “kids” talk about taking care of equipment, and not running it into the ground. I even overheard a preservation vs. operation debate between two 16 years olds last year.

Just bringing this all up because maybe weÂ’re a little better off better than we think.

Dave Crosby


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