re: How many of you baws have ever ridden behind or seen a working steam locomotive?

Never realize how much soot you get on you until you see it going down the shower drain later on

My Dad was a Depot Agent for the Rock Island Railroad for over 40 years. I was born in 1934. Our family always lived close to the depot and the railroad tracks were always close by. We played on the tracks, by the tracks, and in the case of trestles, under the tracks. Steam engines were pulling trains until diesel engines began to dominate after WWII. The short-haul trains called 'locals" would park overnight near the depot on a siding where coal and water were stored to refuel the engine for the next day's trip. The engine had a tender at the rear of the cab where the coal and water was carried.

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the Rock Island Railroad

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I’ll give you another reason to hate Disney. The trains have been out of commission since 2018 and there is still no announcement of when it will open back up. They did a TON of refurbishments, though, so maybe it’ll be even better.

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Seriously? Walt Disney was a train fanatic and would be rolling over in his grave at the thought of that.

I haven’t been to Disney since I was a kid about 20 years ago, so makes sense.

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I saw the 4014 Big Boy passing through on its way to NO. What an incredible piece of machinery.

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I caught it passing through Krotz Springs and then the next day saw it arriving in Plaquemine.
Between Opelousas and Krotz springs, it was clocked at one point doing 61 mph.
Ole Big Boy 4014 is an amazing piece of machinery.

Imagine what people living in Southwest Louisiana thought when they first saw those beasts rolling through the prairies.

Haven’t ridden behind one but it’s on my bucket list.

Saw the Big Boy 4014 when it came through Louisiana last year. It’s amazing to see.

First and foremost, I have to give a shout-out to New Orleans's own Southern Pacific 745, built at the Southern Pacific shops in Algiers in 1921, and operated by the Louisiana Steam Train Association (link) from 2004 until recently. Here it is crossing the Bonnet Carre Spillway in 2004:


(here's the link: RailPictures #1)

And here it is crossing Central Ave.:


RailPictures #2

And crossing from Red River from Shreveport to Bossier City:

Having trouble embedding the pictures; RailPictures #3

Currently it is undergoing a federally-mandated periodic inspection and overhaul. You can volunteer to help--it's in Jefferson Parish.

Of course there are more that a few other operational steam locomotives you can see, ride behind, and (in one or two places) operate yourself.

Most recently we had the world's largest operational steam locomotive, Union Pacific "Big Boy" # 4014, visit Louisiana:

RailPictures #4

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If you are ever in the area.

Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

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Yes. TVRM is IMO by far the best place to see and ride behind operational steam locomotives that's anywhere near Louisiana. It's in Chattanooga. They have Southern Railway 4501 and the somewhat smaller Southern Railway 630, both of which visited and ran excursions out of New Orleans in the 1970s and 1980s. They have other steam locomotives too. They run multiple short-ish trips several times a day almost every day. They also have periodic / seasonal longer excursions.