The darkest night comes before the brightest dawn......

Yep I know Art. I talked to him for quite a while after I went up to North Dakota, he told me to come and talk to him before I try and apply for BNSF again.

I'm glad, Foreman Mitchell is a good guy to know and highly respected.

I've got some maps I need to return to him, so I'll try to drop in on him up at the Fort Collins yard this week.

Good job Klinger, your future is looking bright!
 
Well, the Holiday weekend is over, and the train is still in one piece, that's a good sign. Also, I get to learn to fire on little engine 12 in 2 weeks! Durango told me it would be over a year before they put me in the Fireman's seat, and here in Silver Plume, I get to learn in my first month.

Dreams do come true.
 
Yeah, well my boss at Home Depot just told me he wants me assembling gas grills by August! So there!:hehe:

Ugh Im a assembler at walmart Ive hittin around 100 so far this year this is suppose to be lawn and gardens job but when they come up with extra nuts and bolts I got the honors ugh......
tip to them the smaller they are the harder they get lol
 
Hey I got promoted... I think? I get to sit in the office and work on the computer instead of working in 100+ dergree (your average Texas summer) working in an auto shop.
 
Hey I got promoted... I think? I get to sit in the office and work on the computer instead of working in 100+ dergree (your average Texas summer) working in an auto shop.


It will be about 110 in Big Shay 9 when its finished. Its got an all weather cab, and the back head goes back into the cab about a 1/4 of the way.

Its going to be toasty in there
 
It will be about 110 in Big Shay 9 when its finished. Its got an all weather cab, and the back head goes back into the cab about a 1/4 of the way.

Its going to be toasty in there
Have fun with that! At least the boss isn't making jokes about the new guy!(me last year.....) lol
 
All i can tell you is, HOLD ON TO THIS JOB WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT! Forget the guy saying "think about this long term." I know a guy who works for BNSF, and he says it all the time, "the railroad spends so much time, effort, and money to train you and get you ready for the job, then, when you're done, they turn around and use all that time, effort, and money to try to fire you." :eek:

anyway, I do have a question. what are you guys running when you're not running steam? I know you have 12, but i thought they sold...wait, i just remembered, they have little 15 off the Oahu Ry. & Land. Or is it 19?:confused:

Good luck man with firing 12, and if you get the engineer's seat, all i can say is, you're waaay better off than me. Even in trainz cab mode i can only get it down the hill, not back up:hehe:

EDIT: okay, forget the whole "don't think long term," thing, i get that working at a tourist railroad might not be the best thing for a lifetime occupation. Just hold on to it as long as you can, and savor every moment...and give me my cab ride :hehe::hehe: (sorry, greedy half of brain not communicating with rational half of brain; again.)
 
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Well, Having worked for a few weeks, this stuff all may seem like fun and games when we were all kids, but holy crap is steam a lot of work. Between lapping the Superheaters in 9, cleaning truck parts, and installing boiler plugs, I could have never imagined how much work this actually took.

Was in the firebox of 9 today installing a soft plug, I spent most of Sunday curled up in the smokebox working on the superheater unit.

My bathtub in Silver Plume is starting to get darker....no matter how much I scrub it.
 
I used to get so filthy that I pre-showered off outside with the garden hose, and my grime soled steel tipped boots never were allowed to set foot in the house.:cool:

Grease and grime is in yer' blood now ... even scrubbing down with a stiff horse warshing' bristle brush, using Boraxo won't warsh' it off !

Ben Franklin was fond of Lye Soap, and letting it dry on his skin, and taking air baths up in the loft of the barn (in the buff) reading poems by Walt Whittman reclining on bales of hay.:eek:(try not to picture that, ewwww !) ... Sometimes I wonder about Ol' Ben Franklin ! Ohhh, Yoo Hoo ... Nature Boy !

He also wanted the symbol of the US to be the "Turkey" !:hehe:
 
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