Back when I was but a mere lad (probably 12-13 years old) my dad took a day off from work and hauled my two brothers and I out to the town of Snoqualmie, about 45 minutes east of Seattle up I-90. There they had a railway museum (which is still there today) and, even more importantly to three young train buffs, an operating steam locomotive. They ran it on weekends, giving rides out west of town to Snoqualmie Falls one way, then back the other way several miles east of town.
Well, my dad had helped a bit on the restoration of the locomotive. We all thought we were going out to look at it or, at most, ride in one of the passenger cars behind it. We never dreamed that we would actually wind up in the cab. Nor could we have ever guessed that we would actually get to
operate the darn thing. But, much to our amazement and everlasting joy, the three of us took turns as the engineer. We each got to take it out to the falls, then back through town out to the east end of the line, then back to the station where we handed it over to (or took it over from) one another. Three full runs, the full length of their available line, taking turns taking it the whole way. They were apparently doing shakedown runs, making sure it was good to go for passengers. Our dad played it cool the whole way out there, never letting on what awaited us.
Do I have to tell you guys just how awesome that was? One of my very best memories of my dad, who passed away far too soon just a few short years after that (I was only 18). He was a bit of a railfan himself, obviously. No doubt where I got it.
Here is the locomotive as it sits today. It's a 2-6-6-2 compound Mallet that was operated by U.S. Plywood back in the day. It has just recently been re-restored, after having sat idle for a couple of decades. The museum could not afford to keep it going after my dad and the rest had gotten it going. I think they might have gotten about a decade of use out of it before they had to park it. I'm not sure if it is meant to run again this time, or if it is only going to be on static display. I'm keeping my eye on it...
