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

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If you are ever in the area. Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

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^^^^This^^^^

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There are folks like me who appreciate the history railroading and unique equipment as well as scenic routes. Then there are kids on the spectrum who go ape shite over a heritage unit and absolutely have to film it and/or grab 100’s of pictures, in the process blocking traffic and/or putting themselves at risk of being hit on the mainline.

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Right right right……of course you’re not….

As a kid I rode on the Stone Mountain train around the mountain when they were still using steam locomotives. From what I remember it was fun, and noisy. They switched over to diesel locomotives a few years later.

Got to run the Norfolk & Western 611 back in 2018 in Spencer, NC. Quite a thrill it was!
Great day!

At the age of 9 or 10 I had the privilege of my first train ride. I lived near the tracks and was down by the grain elevator hunting sparrows with my Daisy air rifle when the local train was sorting cars.
I stood in a narrow gap between two buildings immediately adjacent to the tracks when the engine stopped directly in front of me. The engineer looked down at me and asked "Hey boy, do you want a ride?" Naturally I said "sure", and he said "Then put down your gun and I will give you a hand." He reached down and pulled me up into the cab with him and the fireman and then had me sit on his lap by the controls. I got a quick explanation of the reversing lever and steam valve throttle and then he had me squeeze the grip and swing the lever to "forward" He then told me to take hold of the throttle valve and open it VERY SLOWLY. Unfortunately his definition of "very slowly" and that of a highly excited young boy were somewhat different. Needless to say I turned the valve too far too quickly and proceeded to spin the drivers causing the engineer to grab his hand over mine and bring the engine back under control. He then helped me get the feel as we moved the short string of cars out past the switch and paused the train while the conductor/brakeman played switchman. I was then allowed to reverse the grip and slowly back the train toward the other cars. He took over for the coupling and de-coupling actions and I was again allowed to throw the lever forward and proceed out past the switch again. After the switch was thrown to the side track I was again allowed to reverse the train until it was necessary for him to control the final decoupling action. He then told me that that was all of the switching, and that they had to go on down the line now, but before helping me down he took a time card and wrote a note to my parents for me. My mother passed that note on to me after having kept it for about sixty years and I now have it to share with my children and grandchildren.
The note reads "Dear Mr XXXXXX, a fine boy you have, I give him a ride in the engine today." It was signed by the engineer whose last name was Ragatz who lived in a town about 30 miles away.
That act of kindness would have gotten both the engineer and fireman and
fired today but it gave me a memory that has lasted for 75 years and that I share with you today.