I must commend Erik Ledbetter and Jim Wrinn for bringing to the forefront one of the most important aspects of the future of steam: the young men and women, currently working in the steam industry to preserve and insure the future of steam locomotive operations for the next generation and many generations to come.

There are people out there under the age of 35 that work hard for little or no pay to learn the art of rebuilding a steam locomotive, maintaining it and its proper operation practices. Many of these people are behind the scenes where they can slip through the cracks and go unnoticed by the steam community. These young few work hard to make sure their engines are operable and perform with the reliability that made them the cornerstone of America’s transportation system for many years.

While Erik recognized some of steam’s future, I believe there are many more out there that deserve the same recognition. Here are just some of the few that I know of:

Craig Schultz
Craig is a third generation steam railroader on the Heber Valley Railroad. His father Bill is an engineer at Heber and used to take Craig to the railroad when he was a kid to ride in the cab. Craig joined the team when he was 14 as a concessions attendant. While it wasn’t exactly what he wanted to do, it gave him a chance to work on the railroad. When Craig turned 18 he was brought aboard as a fireman and hostler and quickly picked up the skills needed to do the job. Now at the age of 22, Craig is working full time as a fireman and shop mechanic. He makes the job of hand firing UP 2-8-0 618 look easy.

Chris Zahrt
Chris has been behind the scenes in the railroad industry since 1999. While studying at Purdue University to become a Mechanical Engineer he spent the summer of 1999 interning at CSX’s Cumberland Diesel shops. In 2000 he interned at Electo-Motive’s La Grange Plant. The next summer was spent in Savanna at the Roundhouse Railroad Museum. After graduating in December of ’02 he started volunteering at The Indiana Railway Museum. He was there until 2004 when he hired on full time with the Ohio Central Steam Department as a machinist. After spending the last half of ’04 at the OC he was hired on as a machinist at the Grand Canyon Railroad where he works today. Chris remains, to this day, the only person I know that had his high school senior pictures taken on the pilot of a HOT Kanawha.

Zach Hall
Zach spent many hours working on the rebuild of NKP 765. There were few weekends that didn’t find him doing whatever he could to aid in the rebuild of Lima’s finest. In 2004, he decided to take a weekend off from the 765 and head over to the Ohio Central for a volunteer session. Soon after that volunteer session Zach and his father (also into steam) were hired on full time by the Ohio Central to aid Gary Bensman on the rebuilding of LS&I #33’s boiler. They spent their week at the OC and their weekends in Ft. Wayne. Zach is now working full time at the Grand Canyon Railway as a hostler.

Dave Sutter
Dave grew up in greater Detroit area in Michigan and spent three summers working at the Mackinac State Parks. He graduated with a Parks and Recreation Management Degree from Lake Superior State University. After a brief stint with Oakland county Parks, he went to work for The Crossroad Village, where he started firing on the steam boilers at the Atlas Saw Mill and then went to work for Marty Knox and the Huckleberry Railroad. He rose through the ranks, and eventually began firing the locomotives there, as well as helping with rebuild of “Mudhen” D&RGW #464. He simultaneously worked at the Henry Ford Museum firing and maintaining their locomotives until his was hired full time in 2004. He is currently working on the restoration of the only operable Mason – Bogey in existence, 0-6-4T Torch Lake.

Jason Sobczynski
Jason began his career in steam by volunteering at Southeastern Railway Museum under the expert tutelage of Bill Purdie, former Master Mechanic-Steam of the Southern Railway. Jason became the superintendent of steam locomotives there before accepting a job at the Savannah Roundhouse Railroad Museum. From there, he served a stint at Henry Ford and assisted in the rebuild of WP&Y 69. He worked as a steam locomotive contractor in Montgomery, AL before hiring on at the Grand Canyon Railway.

The Brothers Lamb
Jeff Lamb (California), the younger of the two brothers, spent the summer of 2004 doing every railfan’s dream. He drove across the country visiting as many steam railroads as possible and helped out where he could. I met him at the Ohio Central before Trainfest when he happened to stop by. Right away he was put to work and ended up spending well over a month as part of the steam crew. He is now home in Cali where he spends his weekends working on the rebuild of Ventura County Railway 2-6-2 #2 at the Orange Empire Railroad Museum.
Jason Lamb is the oldest brother and is also deep into steam. Jason started out almost a year ago at the Nevada Northern Railway and quickly rose through the ranks. He started in the shop before becoming a fireman. Soon after he was promoted to engineer and he is currently holding the position of Road Foreman of Engines. He is quickly making his mark on the NNRY.

Justin Tracey
Justin followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the illustrious Southern Pacific #4449 crew. While involved with this organization, he assisted Doyle McCormack in the restoration of Canadian Pacific 2816’s boiler. From there, he went to the Grand Canyon Railway. He is currently working in train service for Canadian Pacific, and he assists the 261 crew.

Eric Hadder
Eric’s interest in trains started at the age of two, when he was first given the throttle to the Lionel train set his uncle had played with in the sixties. Eric earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona and then became a designer for Con-Cor, a manufacturer of HO and N scale railroad models. During the 1997 Grand Canyon Railway Railfan Weekend, he took a shop tour and heard Robert Franzen state that he had a hard time finding guys to work on the railway’s steam locomotives. He thought to himself, “Really?! Heck, I’d do it.” By 1998, he was a hostler helper at the locomotive shop, and rose rapidly through the ranks. He is currently Road Foreman of Engines.

Ben True
As a baby, Ben’s rattle was stained with valve oil, for his family owns several traction engines and Stanley steam automobiles. Ben parlayed this steam experience into a job with the Climax powered Durbin & Greenbrier Valley. Currently, he is employed by Virginia’s Buckingham Branch Railroad. In between crew calls, Ben amazingly finds time to assist both the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley and the West Virginia Railroad Museum, which has just acquired title to two West Virginia Northern Consolidations.

Barney Gramling
Barney and his father John began their foray into steam with their purchase of former Flagg Coal Company #75 from the defunct Rail City Museum in Sandy Pond, NY in 1991. Like many, they purchased it with the intent to restore it to operating condition; unlike most, they actually pulled it off. The father son duo painstakingly disassembled the locomotive, moved it to their shop in Ashley, Indiana and over the course of the following ten years returned it to service. In 2002 John and Barney loaned the locomotive to the Steam Railroading Institute where it is used for demonstrations and to power steam excursions. Barney, who has worked for various short line railroads in the Midwest for the last ten years or so, was recently hired as the new Roundhouse Foreman at the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, Michigan, and is currently leading the project to rebuild ex-Mississippian #76 to operation, as well as performing major work on Pere Marquette #1225.

Jason Johnson
Jason has worked in the industry for nine years, which is impressive given he is barely 27 years old. Rising from the section gang to the steam department in a very short time, he fired and ran the Sugarcreek operation as well as other Ohio Central Excursions. Jason quickly rose through the ranks and became the Head of Passenger Operations for the railroad. In that time, he organized two of the largest steam events in the past ten years, Ohio Central’s Railfest ‘99 and Train Festival in 2004, and was instrumental in the rebuilds of ex – CPR 4-6-2 #1293, ex - GTW 4-8-4 #6352, ex – CN 4-6-0 #1551, ex – BC&G 2-8-0 #13, and Ex - LS&I 2-8-0 #33. In 2005 he resigned from the Ohio Central to start his own business, Prestige Marketing. In his spare time he advises a couple of different groups on their steam engine rebuilds and volunteers at the OC. Jason still has much to offer the world of steam.

These are just a few of the people that currently aid in the future of steam. I’m sure there are more out there at railroads I have yet to visit. I encourage everyone here to take a second to write a short piece about the under 35s that work or volunteer at the tourist railroad, museum, or steam program near you. But don’t stop there. Encourage anyone you can to join the ranks of steams future. You never know who may become the next Young Gun of Steam.

One more thing, we are fortunate to have the internet to bring people from all over the US and the world together. Mr. Zahrt and I have been working for quite some time to come up with a forum where these young professionals of steam can meet and discuss all things steam. This group, which has been re-named Steam’s Young Guns is located at: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/S ... d=94988660
The description we have come up with is:

“The vision of this group is to serve as a forum to bring together the younger generation of people involved in the steam industry, the exchange of technical information and operating practices from different steam operations. This group can also serve as a resource for those involved or curious about marketing, financing, and managing steam operation and tourist railroads.

“The main goal of this group is to put the young generation in touch with each other in order to ensure the future of the steam locomotive operation.

“In order to facilitate this goal the input of experienced steam operators is welcomed and encouraged.”

While it would be nice if everyone could join this group, we have decided to limit it strictly to steam’s professionals. To join the group you will go through a review process and must write a short one or two paragraph introduction that describes what you do in the world of steam. This way the discussions can be more freely open without the risk of the information winding up on a more public forum.

Thank you for taking the time to read such a long post. Hope to see you around the shop.

Keep Steaming,
Greg Udolph
Heber City, UT

Special thanks to Chris Zahrt and TJ Gaffney for helping to make this post possible.

I thank you for providing this info. It's refreshing to see these names, and associate them with opinions some of them have expressed on this forum.

I believe Eric stated in response to the accolades with respect to his article, that several other persons had been edited out.

Greg was too modest to add his own name to the list. He'd be on my list of steam's young guns, although not near the top, for he lacks the flair, talent, and dashing good looks that someone like myself brings to the industry. The bug bit a two year old Greg in the back of a Honda chasing 611. He got his start in steam by taking a brief sabbatical from womanizing to volunteer for the Ohio Central. Through blatantly unethical, if not illegal means, he managed to secure a paid position with the O.C. Steam Department, where he was immediately overshadowed by my arrival several weeks later. I did my best to teach him steam, but you can't fix stupid. At the end of the summer of 2004, with tail firmly tucked, he returned to college to complete a hippy, pinko degree of some sort or other. Upon graduation, he managed to con the Heber Valley into hiring him, where he is currently doing a passable job at firing and maintaining the 618, and a great job of amusing me and the other titans of the industry with his bumbling naivety. (To those of you that haven't had the pleasure of meeting Greg, I made this post with tongue firmly in cheek. If anything, the names in the post should be reversed. Greg has taught, and continues to teach me much about steam. I have the deepest respect for his ability and passion. He and TJ are the best friends a guy could ask for.)
-Chris Zahrt
MACHINIST, Grand Canyon Rwy.

I'd like to thank Greg for taking the time to compile this list. I know it is by no means complete, and others on this board should take space in this thread to acknowledge other young members of the steam railroading fraternity that will help maintain this great passion of ours. I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting and/or working with many of the people listed above, and I can say with complete confidence that if these men are a representative sample of what the newest generation of steam railroaders has to offer, then steam locomotives and the railroads they serve are in good hands.

My thanks go out to all members of the steam community for their continued efforts to keep such antiquated beasts alive during the tourist era, for without the older members of the steam community, us younger members would have nothing to play with.

From time to time there is doomsday talk about one day we wont have people who know steam. It is easy to see this will not be the case. As long as there is a place for steam to turn a wheel there will be a steady stream of people who will step up to be steam men.

As John Bush said to me last weekend at the TRAIN spring board meeting - "where were the people writing articles when WE were the young guns?"

Greg,

Thanks for chiming in and highlighting some of the others. I had suggested Eric Hadder, Justin Tracey and a few others as well to Erik Ledbetter, but there was only room for so many people in the article.

I am also glad to see that you and Chris have put together a forum. Kelly Lynch, John Rimmasch and I have also been discussing a face-to-face meeting of the "Young Guns"...nice to know we are all thinking along similar lines in terms of improving communication. I'll be checking out the forum soon.

Best,
Wolf F

That's a great list, glad to see these folks getting some recognition.

If you could do me a favor, and pass along the information that Mt Rainier Scenic is looking for a new CMO it would be greatly appreciated. It might just be the kind of opportunity one of these folks is looking for.

Yes, but how sad it is that so many employeed fulltime in the industry were edited out for the part time volunteers.

Wow Chris,

I don't think I have ever heard such nice things about myself. For anyone that has had the privilege of meeting Zahrt, they would know that he is a lover of all things steam. He works hard to preserve steam for the next generation. He is a nice guy, so if you are at the Grand Canyon, just as for Mr. Chris Zahart in the boiler department. He will gladly spend some time chatting with you.

Here is a picture of Chris next to his favorite steam engine. Maybe someday he will get to see one run.

Greg,

I wasn't expecting to see my name on your list. Thank you for thinking of me.


I have to agree there are many more "young guns" out there that did not make the article. I hope the article will inspire others to get out there and get dirty. They will get rewards much greater than money when you work with steam and the great guys associated with steam. I have no regrets and would do it all over again. I will continue to keep my hand involved as long as I am able.

Keep up the good work Greg,

Jason Johnson

O. K. you two when your arms are done stretching you had better be ready as I may post a few of my stories about both of you! Until you can pull of some off the tricks you've been shown just set your pops a little lower! Who set the age of 35 as a young gun? At 38 I don't think I'm that far out! Mr. Zahrt knows I can giterdun! See you in a few weeks Chris!
-Andy

Boy, if that's ever a case of "those in glass houses........" Want to explain how a certain Sports Bar in Coshocton, Ohio has several menu items named for you, Andy? Lord knows its not just your sparkling personality.....


Gaffney

We had a word budget of 4000 words for the article, which is barely enough to cover 4 people well enough to get to know them.

No one should read into the choice of people any implied assertion that person A is viewed by Jim or me as contibuting more than person B who was not profiled. How you pick the people to profile in a project like this is more alchemy than science, and you really shouldn't read too much into the final choices. Sometimes, people are chosen because something in their career speaks to a theme Jim and I wanted to explore or develop. Other times, people end up being interviewed becuase they are available to talk to me when I'm on deadline.

All the people I profiled are excellent folks, but as Greg Udolf very accurately points out, there are any number of equally interesting, talented, and dedicated people who could have stood in their place equally well. Some of them, including Greg himself and many of the other folks on his list, were suggested to me multiple times, but had a similar career path to someone I had already interviewed, and therefore represented a "slot" in the article that was already filled. Others, like Jason Johnson, are good friends of mine who I think the world of, but are not presently working hands-on in the industry, which was a necessary qualification.

As for the question of professionals vs. volunteers raised further up in the thread, I respectfully submit that the question implies that volunteers somehow are second class citizens in steam preservation. That is a position to which I do not subscribe. As a former steam volunteer but never a paid steam pro, I doubt Jim Wrinn does either. :-)

You really need to come back and check the menu again, there is another addition. It however is being taken national. You will need to talk to Mr. Zahrt for more information on that! I wouldn't do it in public either!