All female engine crew on the D&S

Brian Norden · **Posted:** Tue Jun 13, 2023 10:17 pm

I thought that I would share the link to this thread on the Narrow Gauge Discussion Forum.

Milestone for the D&S

On June 10th the #473 was operated by an all female crew - engineer and fireman.

The thread included several additional photos of the day. And Jeff Taylor of Colorado RR Museum notes that on Mother's Day they had an all female engine crew operating ex-D&GRW #491.

mldeets · **Joined:** Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:06 am **Posts:** 411

It is great to see young people interested in and welcomed into keeping steam running!.......mld

Crescent-Zephyr · **Joined:** Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm **Posts:** 1796

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing! The future is young and diverse!!! :)

KevinM · **Posted:** Wed Jun 14, 2023 3:26 pm

This is a great achievement personally for the ladies involved and I congratulate them wholeheartedly. I look forward to a day when this is no longer headline news and people won't bat an eyelash when they see a woman in the cab of a steam locomotive.....or in the cockpit of a 5th generation fighter aircraft. A few years back, I recall hearing a young woman who flew Left Wing on the USAF Thunderbirds demo team say in plain English that she didn't want to be interviewed because she was a woman flying with the Thunderbird team. She wanted to be interviewed to talk about the job and the Thunderbird mission. And that is as it should be.

All of that said, it is great to see these ladies acting as role models for some of the young kids, who are just growing up, so that ALL kids can see that they can aspire to anything that they want to put their minds to. :)

/Kevin Madore

Bartman-TN · **Joined:** Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:45 pm **Posts:** 332

Back in the late 1990s, we had a female locomotive engineer from a freight railroad working our excursion train at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She was always an attraction as the locomotive ran around the train, with lots of kids waving.

On one trip, a young girl told her dad that she want to be a locomotive engineer. He told her that she didn't really want to do that, it was hard work. I then told them both what she made as a locomotive engineer. The father looked at me, then looked at his daughter, and told her that being a locomotive engineer was fine with him.

Bart

co614 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 14, 2023 7:43 pm

Congratulations to the women and to the D&SNG RR for a significant step forward in the 21st. Century.

I've noticed in the photos of the large crowds attracted by the Big Boy that there are lots of young gals in the audiences.

Onward & Upward !!! Ross Rowland

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Jun 14, 2023 9:58 pm

KevinM wrote:

I look forward to a day when this is no longer headline news and people won't bat an eyelash when they see a woman in the cab of a steam locomotive.....or in the cockpit of a 5th generation fighter aircraft. A few years back, I recall hearing a young woman who flew Left Wing on the USAF Thunderbirds demo team say in plain English that she didn't want to be interviewed because she was a woman flying with the Thunderbird team. She wanted to be interviewed to talk about the job and the Thunderbird mission. And that is as it should be.

Same here. To do that, we actively have to work towards the goal of "normalizing" such former anomalies.

I remember doing an article on one female steam fireman trainee in the 1980s for a museum/operation newsletter. Of course, the PR part of the newsletter editing fawned over the story, but I later overheard misgivings by crews about her performance, saying she simply wasn't up to snuff, using the "I'm just a girl..." excuse too often to weasel out of some of the expected duties, and reportedly she didn't last long as a trainee.

choodude · **Joined:** Wed Jun 29, 2016 11:58 am **Posts:** 327

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

Same here. To do that, we actively have to work towards the goal of "normalizing" such former anomalies.

I remember doing an article on one female steam fireman trainee in the 1980s for a museum/operation newsletter. Of course, the PR part of the newsletter editing fawned over the story, but I later overheard misgivings by crews about her performance, saying she simply wasn't up to snuff, using the "I'm just a girl..." excuse too often to weasel out of some of the expected duties, and reportedly she didn't last long as a trainee.

I can give plenty of examples of males weaseling out of expected duties.

Brian

EDM · **Posted:** Thu Jun 15, 2023 9:25 am

Back in '74 or '75, we had a female engine crew on the 148 at Whippany River.

QJdriver · **Posted:** Thu Jun 15, 2023 10:24 am

For the last few years The Georgetown Loop has had a lady machinist/fireman/engineer. She doesn't weasel out of anything. Nobody has any misgivings about her.

rem1028 · **Joined:** Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:32 am **Posts:** 292

This is a great thing. I think this has happened in Strasburg also.

John

Frisco1522 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 15, 2023 8:16 pm

Good for them! Over my lifetime, I've worked with or known some excellent lady welders, machinists, cutter grinders and other skilled women. There are lots of skilled trade ladies out there.
Most awesome one I know is in the Army. Chest full of ribbens and medals, several tours in the sandbox, combat infantry, airborne, Blackhawk combat pilot and one star on her shoulders.
They're out there and people shouldn't act as if they are so unusual. One of our 1522 members who started with us as a teenager is a regular engineer on the Terminal RR Assn of St. Louis along with a couple of other ladies. They are awesome.

R.L.Kennedy · **Joined:** Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:37 pm **Posts:** 242

Oil-fired? Piece of cake! Hand-bomber? Different story! lol

Crescent-Zephyr · **Joined:** Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm **Posts:** 1796

I’ve ridden behind female fireman on hand fired locomotives at TVRM and Illinois Railway museum. Oil burning has nothing to do with it.

Kelly Anderson · **Joined:** Tue Sep 14, 2004 7:52 am **Posts:** 2477