The anticipation of a train ride behind a wood fired, 1915 Heisler, geared steam locomotive, was almost more than I could handle! Awake before the sunrise, I patiently awaited for some activity near the steam engine. When I saw the smoke coming from the engine's stack, I wandered over to where the little 40 toner was being prepped, and engaged in a conversation with Jim, the engineer (drinking from the red cup in the photo). He took me inside the shop building, and showed me the other steam engine that was being rebuilt. He also said that the Heisler was to his knowledge, the only wood fired one still in operation. In fact, there are only a few wood fired steam locomotives still running.
Loading the wood into the tender.
After we pulled into the Sumpter station, we had about an hour while the crew serviced the engine. The old restored gold dredge was a short walk from the depot, and we spent some time marveling at the size, and scope of what must have been a huge operation. The picture of Nancy next to the dredge buckets, gives you an idea of how big this machine actually is.
When the 4 blasts of the whistle sounded, Patty and I returned to our seats on the train. But wait.....
where's Nancy? Just seconds before the engine chugged away from the station, I looked forward, and saw her climbing into the cab of the engine. Now wait just one second! I'm the train guy, and she's getting a privileged ride in the cab, of the only wood burning Heisler steam locomotive left in the entire world!! I'm instantly jealous. No, I'm way beyond jealous. All kinds of thoughts are whirling around in my brain, like do I need to carry more cash in my wallet for possible bribes? Do I need to wear coveralls, and a train engineer's cap? Do I need to transform my personality from a strong assertive kind of guy, to a pleading, begging, wimp, who would do anything for a cab ride? Or, do I need to consider a sex change, where, like Nancy, I might have a shot at being in the cab? After careful consideration, I surmised that none of those things would be practical, and that I would have to continue to forever dream about riding in the cab of a steam locomotive.
If you look carefully, Nancy is waving back at me from the locomotive cab.
Upon returning to the McEwen depot, I had to deal with huge smiles from the new train engineer, and was actually quite happy that she got to enjoy a once in a lifetime opportunity.
It was early afternoon when we pulled out of McEwen, and headed north on Hwy 7 to Baker City, then west on I84 to Hwy 82, and east toward Enterprise. We arrived at Bob & Diana Rush's beautiful home at 4pm. and were pleased that Bob & Brenda Nelson were also there from Albany for a visit. We hadn't seen Bob & Brenda for several years, and we had a nice visit with everybody before calling it a day. We'll be here for a couple of days before continuing our journey north toward Alaska.
Left to right - Bob Rush, Bob & Brenda Nelson, Diana Rush, Patty, Nancy.
Miles traveled - 133 Cumulative - 1,828
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