Locomotive 630 on the turntable at East Chattanooga while passengers watch the operation of turning her.

It is only three large steps up from the platform to the cab of Number 630, a 114 ton steam locomotive. But as I mounted those steps, it was as if I had climbed back in time a full 113 years. At the top of the steps, I stepped into the cab of an operating steam locomotive that was a modern 2-8-0 Consolidation when she was delivered to the Southern Railroad in 1904.

After 48 years of faithful service pulling freight trains in Tennessee and elsewhere, she was “retired” in 1952. But this huge machine leads a charmed life. She escaped the scrapper’s torch, the fate of most of her brethren, by taking on a new life pulling excursion trains for a short line, a railway historical group and survives today as part of the Norfolk Southern Railroad’s 21^st Century Steam Program, a successful public relations effort by a major U.S. railroad.

Her home base is at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she pulls excursion trains several times a week and is lovingly cared for by the mostly-volunteer crew at the T.V.R.M.

My cab ride was a memorable experience. After greeting the engineer and fireman, I was given a short orientation around the cab ((Don’t touch this—it’s hot! Here are the throttle and brakes. Watch out for the swinging bell chord, etc.,) and invited to sit in the fireman’s seat on the left side of the cab. The engineer was in the right seat and the fireman stood beside me, between me and the engineer and reached back into the tender and shoveled coal into the red-hot firebox every few minutes to keep the 190 lbs. of steam pressure needed to operate the locomotive at peak power. He also adjusted one or the other of the two injectors that added water from the tank in the tender behind us into the raging maelstrom in the boiler to make steam. He also called the position of switches we approached to the engineer, who repeated back what he heard.

As we pulled away from the East Chattanooga Station with three cars full of passengers, the first thing I noticed is that the cab was a good bit warmer than the outside air when the firebox door was closed and downright H-O-T when it was opened.

The ride was fairly smooth, with the “chuff-chuff stack talk” beating a steady rhythm of four chugs to each revolution of the 56 inch driving wheels below and the locomotive gently swaying back and forth as she made her way down the undulating track. The level of noise was not excessive, more than in a car at highway speed but less than in the passenger compartment of a jet taking off.

The firebox of 630 was like a volcano when the clamshell doors were opened by the fireman.

On the way back to Grand Junction Terminal where the train originated, we crossed four bridges over a river, highway and a mainline railroad and went through one tunnel, under the Missionary Ridge civil war battlefield.  As we approached the tunnel, we shut the cab front door and windows that has been left ajar for ventilation to prevent coal smoke from flooding into the cab and choking the crew. As soon as we existed the tunnel, we opened things back up and the blast of outside air was cooling and welcome.

The locomotive whistle sounded its sonorous tones that echoed across the valley as we exited the tunnel, crossed roads at grade and spoke its special language to the crew who helped us switch in the yard and around and over a Y-shaped track to bring us back to Grand Junction Station’s platform, oriented the right way for the next trip.

What a fantastic ride in a living, breathing time machine that belched smoke and steam, panted as if she were alive and showed me in a very real way what it must have been like to be a locomotive engineer or fireman at the heyday of the steam locomotive in America.

You can experience the golden age of steam yourself at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga by either buying a ticket as a passenger on one of the many steam-drawn excursions the museum operates or arranging in advance to pay a special fee to ride in the cab and contribute to the upkeep of the vintage equipment owned by the museum. All aboard!

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A SunRail commuter train pulls out the station, whisking people to work in Orlando

Welcome To Florida SunRail

Florida is finally on a fast track for good rail service. SunRail, the greater Orlando commuter rail service opened May 1, 2014 and ridership has been good not only among commuters but also among tourists, shoppers and basketball game=goers on holidays and evenings. It has been so successful that plans are already in the works to extend it on both ends and to provide eventual service to the Orlando airport.

This railroad is both welcome and long overdue. It joins Tri-Rail, on Florida’s east coast (Palm Beach to Miami), as a regional solution to traffic congestion and a great way to get around. Tri-Rail is currently looking for funding to extend service into downtown Miami instead of the outskirts.

The new state-of-the-art railroad cars have tables, free wi-fi, power outlets, clean restrooms and comfortable seats. The double decker cars also provide a great view. Does your automobile have all that? Mine doesn’t and it burns $3.77 premium gas to boot (today’s local “discount station” price”) and holds five at maximum but two can ride in comfort. According to SunRail, it costs about $35o in fuel to run the whole train on a 63 mile round trip, with capacity for hundreds of passengers, each one having a lot more room and amenities than they would if they were riding in my BMW 328i coupe.

So welcome to Florida, SunRail. We’re glad to have you and wish you hundreds of thousands of satisfied and green riders. Now Floridians who appreciate train travel have commuter trains just like New York, Chicago and Paris.

We also have several Amtrak trains for long distance travel. I’ve taken one recently from Tampa to Jacksonville on business and it was great. I had a nice dinner in the diner and worked on my laptop at a table in the lounge car in true comfort. And it was on time too.

Florida’s Governor committed a massive error when he turned away a firm commitment of $2.3 billion (yes, billion, with a b) in Federal funds three years ago for a high speed rail system that was shovel ready. He even ignored a promise by a major rail system builder to make up any deficits the system might incur in operation. Imagine how many jobs were left uncreated and how convenient for tourists to take a high speed train from the airport to see the Mouse.

Hope may be coming down the track, however. All Aboard Florida, a private company that is owned by the same Jacksonville to Miami Florida East Coast Railroad that once operated a fleet of passenger trains, has proposed to build and operate a private passenger rail system from Miami to Orlando. It is already in operation using existing tracks between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale and will soon be extened to Miami. Also in the works is a a new right of way down the center of an existing toll road from the East Coast to Orlando airport. Start-up is promised for 2019. The company has already completed stations in South Florida.

We hope it happens and we’ll certainly ride the line and write a Welcome All Aboard Florida blog when the full system opens.

Since it is not depending on state or federal funding, it seems to be “Governor proof”and will not meet the same fate as the almost-launched high-speed rail system in Florida Let’s hope the NIMBY ememies of modern rail transport will be foiled this time.

By way of disclosure, I have written a feature article on SunRail which was published in the July, 2015 issue of Trains, the national railroad magazine.

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Tips, Trips and Tid-Bits for the Savvy Over-50 Traveler.

Why are there so many over-50 travel companies and tour operators? Because being 50 or older (sometimes a lot older) today is not what it was in when your parents and grandparents were that age. Today, those of us in the second half of our lives live longer, work longer, stay fit longer, have more disposable income and travel far more for business and pleasure than our ancestors ever dreamed about.

We’re also better educated, are able to easily access more information and are more adventuresome than previous generations.

The old over-50 travel largely focused on quiet luxury resorts, cruises that were long on leisure and short on activities and sightseeing and gentle bus tours that started late in the day and got everybody back to the hotel in time for dinner. Boring!

That’s not the over 50 travel we’re talking about! Over-50 travelers like us are out there. We’re exploring the world, looking for new tastes and sights, soaking up learning and culture and not afraid of a little adventure.

So what set us apart from the under-50 set? Frankly, not that much. Still, age has its privileges and we do have some relevant characteristics and interests that define us and make us such a desirable travel market.

• First, while we like to hang out with our contemporaries, we also enjoy and relate to folks of all ages. Senior-only tours and groups appeal to only some of us.

• While we’re not quite as athletic as some (by no means all) twenty-somethings, we’re a pretty fit and adventuresome bunch who are not afraid to bike, hike, climb and explore on our way to adventure.

• Though we’ve finished our formal education, we’re committed to lifelong learning and yearn to absorb as much as we can in our travels.

• Because we’ve climbed the ladder through at least one career (and many of us are in our second or third), we’ve got some money in our pocket and are willing to spend on what we deem to be good values.

• We’ve also honed our tastes so we’re always on the lookout for excellent food, drink and attractions, especially those just off the beaten path.

• Many of us travel with our children and grandchildren so we wind up at the Disney World’s of the World but look for more than roller coasters while we’re there.

As we blog about over-50 travel and bring you trip reports and travel tips, we’ll cover health and fitness as it pertains to travel and keep today’s senior traveler in mind.

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