As one of the participants in last weekend's charter, I will echo the sentiments of the others. I had a grand time and burned many gigs of pretty pixels. Making an extravaganza of this sort happen took the efforts of many people, who undoubtedly have gone with very little sleep lately. I for one am grateful to them.

Knowing what temperamental beasts steam locomotives can be, I must say that I was simply stunned to find PM 1225 steaming in the yard when I arrived for the Friday night brief. The crews from both SRI and FWRRHS did a wonderful job of not only preparing the engines, but putting on the show safely and professionally.

Pete Lerro and his staff are also to be commended. Organizing the "agencies", scouting the spots, clearing the brush, providing the lights....and orchestrating the movements of 25 vehicles and a 34-car behemoth freight train surely left him and his team pretty drained for the long drive home. Their hard work paid off in spades.

And as for the chasers, I'm not sure what all of the fuss is about. As far as I could see, they all stayed on public land and did not interfere with the charter in any way. If those folks got some good pictures of the movements between venues and are really inclined to help in a small way, they should send a donation to SRI or FWRRHS. Every dollar helps the cause.

I agree with Kevin. the chasers were almost non-existent on Saturday, and on Sunday they stayed away from the photo-lines set-up by those of us who payed. And the one time Pete approached them to leave, it looks like many obliged, although I was watching from a distance. However the chasers were about the furthest thing from my mind all weekend. I was having too much fun taking it all in that I had no time to bother with the freeloaders. And even though it was just a run-by, my time in the cab of 765 was great! I'd like to also commend the SRI crew and the 765 crew for their work all weekend. You created memories that those of us that were there won't ever forget! You both have first class organizations and I look forward to being able to return to Owosso sometime in the future!

Darryl Rule
Levittown, PA

Early on while reading this thread I decided to be a "dissenter" and risk rocking the boat but I'm glad Darryl and Kevin chimed in. Until and unless "chaser passes" are advertised and offered, I have no issue with "freeloading chasers" - as long as they stay on public property and respectfully exclude themselves from the photolines and photovistas. I endorse this to such an extent that I hope to one day provide passes on behalf of certain groups in attempt to prove the validity of the idea.

I remember seeing pics of WM #734 in Railfan and Railroad and being very upset that I wasn't in the loop (since it was a charter with very little public advertising). I remember when I was in my teen and even 20's and not having the cash to attend certain charters.

To those who chase or chased, I STRONGLY suggest you make a donation to the group that ran the charter (since typically, though not always, if the asking price is met, it is the charter group that is in the red - and keep in mind to cover a charter requires more then simply "getting the engine". There were scouting trips (and flights), brush cutting, lodging, equipment, props, actors, rentals... the list seems never ending. Pete spent hundreds of dollars on all new lighting for this trip alone. As a member of the crew, it might seem wrong to advocate sending donations to a charter operator but I am simply suggesting such to any charter you may have or may end up chasing. I also highly recommend similar donations towards the groups who maintain and operate the equipment. Consider joining such a group, as I have for several years running. This is not in lieu of charter dues but a good start. I think some railfans hesitancy to donate might lay in the fact they have nothing (but warm fuzzy feelings) to prove their participation. Again, any payment short of the full fare is a benefit to the group and should not be considered payment in full with equal opportunity.

As for the flues and similarilly, SP #4449's event at Trainfest - I took pics but did not post and do not feel inclined to post, especially to site considerably public oriented. However, such pics seem valid on sites such as TO's and RPN. Not so say for RP.

And... last, and most important - a congradulatory pat on the back to everyone who made this, past, and future events possible. When I younger and attended charters that Carl Franz ran, it was "fun" but I can tell you as a member of Lerro's crew, one who's responsibilities pale in relation to what Pete has to deal with to run a successful charter - it's not "fun", it's a lot of hard work, a huge personal investment in time, missed photos at your own charter, and financial risk with profits if they even exist going towards new and better equipment (or paying off old equipment and past expenses). Then there is the societies crew - up hours before the charter begins, locking up hours after the charter is over and all the prep days and weeks - and years before we all show up to take our photos. Thank you all very much!

/Mitch

Let’s face facts, we live in a society where everyone feels entitled to everything. Your item or service costs too much? That’s your fault for making it so expensive, right? People like that will never take into account that any event costs serious money to set up. No, they neither know nor care about this. They just want what the paying people got. But not to pay what they paid, because they simply WANT it and that’s enough reason. So true. For example, I displayed my WW2 Jeep at an air show, and as I was going for a food run in it, I came back and encountered a standard “fan” type (mid 50s, face twisted into a permanent scowl and the fashion sense of a homeless logger) at the participant gate who DEMANDED I take him through the gate so he wouldn’t have to pay. His reason was, “I’m on a fixed income and I just can’t afford the gate admission and I need to get better photos than at the fence!” But he had two very expensive cameras in the open and a bag which probably had more, all 35MM. I asked how much he had into the cameras and how much he’d need to spend on the developing. His exact response wouldn’t be allowed here, and I think I almost gave him a stroke. He was hopping up and down about how “unfair” it was as I drove through (leaving him on the wrong side of the gate). He really blew a gasket when I pointed him out to the Civil Air Patrol cadets running the gate and told them, “See that guy? He does NOT get in here without a gate admission, got that?” They smiled and assured me he wouldn’t get in without a ticket. I got the feeling he’d tried to get in before I came along. At the end of the second day, I left with my Jeep on a trailer and caught a glimpse of the same guy hanging by the outside fence at the end of the runway. He’d spent all weekend standing there instead of the ten bucks to get in.

[quote="pm-man"]I find it infinitely rewarding myself, even more so when there are two:



TJ, this is the spitting image of Ron Ziels work at Valle de Mexico Roundhouse in Twilight of the Steam Locomotive. Thanks to you and all your colleagues for making it a very long--dare I say endless?--twilight indeed.

A couple videos from the weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d550S68EpBw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3L0I6sJ_cU

congrats on the repair its barely over a month since the fest, I call that a quickee...

That report on the guy with the fancy cameras and the tight fists is common in many areas of endeavor. When a band he enjoys is playing at the local pub, he's the one who's "looking out the window" when the tip jar is passed, and he probably tries to get another fan to dub a CD for him rather than spend $10 or $15 for the real thing. Hey, buddy, what part of "Support" don't you understand?

Two of my shots...

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=296045&nseq=2

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=296044&nseq=3

My long planned vacation had me riding behind WW&F 0-4-4 #10 this particular weekend so I appreciated these videos. One comment though. Concerning the "father figure" who kept directing the two youngsters attention to their fishing next to the trestle, while the Berk whistles and then blasts by right above them. I'm sorry, but you can't tell me that those two kids would not have turned around to watch the engine and probably have waved at the engineer. And this is what they would have done back when steam was in regular service too! That particular scene had "fake" written all over it. Am I the only one who felt that way?

Les

Whoops - I noticed that the other day while looking through the photos from the weekend... It's hard to nail every scene without overlooking something. Shiny rails, clean cars, but most difficult - actors that are not actors but rather, friends and family. On the other hand - IF I WERE THE CHILD in that scene, I'd have a very hard time not looking so I do not believe this is a universal fascination. "Are we done yet??" was uttered at one point. Though, to be fair, there were quite a few runbys... On a related note, when 2101 came through Lansdale, PA late at night I heard kids on their cell phone saying "I'm stuck waiting for some dumb train to go by". 'Course, that was in the 90's, not 50's!

/Mitch

I immediately noticed that myself, but didn’t say anything until I saw your post. I like these staged photos that people set up but the “actors” in them are rarely ever interacting with the environment the way they normally would. They look like life-size figures on a model railroad layout that were randomly placed there.

I wanted to speak briefly about the whole question of judging "freeloaders".

Back in the earlier days of the Net, I used to be a bit of an amateur net-cop. Nowadays you find such volunteer patrollers in places like Wikipedia. There's very little oversight. Nobody minds a few unfair calls, because 99% of the time, they're right. So nobody holds the net-cops accountable. They just run amok - Stanford Prison Experiment.

*chuckle* ... and then I gained the opportunity to be a professional net-cop. Everything changes when there are two paths to holding you accountable - direct complaint, and management. And when I looked into these cases I discovered surprisingly often there are extenuating factors, and really you can't leap to judgment.

So back to freeloaders. Judging a person a freeloader? There's a case of self-appointed "coppery" if there ever was one. Speaking as a professional, you just never know.

- He might be the guy who put 1200 volunteer hours into restoration.

- He might be the guy who donated the building that houses the restoration.

- Yeah, he might be freeloading and he might even have a $3000 bit of shiny around his neck. But he might have bought the shiny back in '07 when credit was easy, and now like most of us he's behind on the credit, upside down on the mortgage and flinching for the next round of layoffs. This might be the only fun he can afford. Are you REALLY in a position to judge him?

Kids on cell phones in 1991? Somehow I don't think so.

Hmm, good point. I distinctly remember hearing the phrase "I'm stuck behind this dumb train" - either my date is wrong or it was uttered not on a cell but verbally to another person within hearing range. I just recalled being mystified that someone could watch a steam engine pass by and make note of the delay rather then note the surprise and wonderment of seeing such a machine.

/Mitch