WPZephyrFan
August 9th, 2003, 03:52 AM
I just got back from spending two wonderful days in the Feather River Canyon and an afternoon at the Feather River Rail Society's museum in Portola, Ca.
My girlfriend and I drove up from Santa Rosa Wednesday morning. Didn't see much rail action until we got just outside of Oroville, at James. We saw five trains on our way up the canyon, one of which was a BNSF train, which I imagine came from the High Line.
Of course, the highlight of the trip was the museum. I was all set for a couple of hours spent taking photos when I got a surprise... my girlfriend had rented WP F7 #921-D for me! graemlins/clappy.gif
Jack from the museum demonstrated the controls for me and soon I was zooming along at 10 mph around the museums loop. I say "zooming" because, to me we were! At first, I was very nervous, wondering if I would hit the brakes too hard and put everyone on the floor of the cab or not hard enough and smash into something. Jack was very patient and gave me tips while my girlfriend rode in the fireman's seat and took photos (I'll get them posted as soon as I get them back from the developer). Jack complimented me on my smooth stops, even telling me a couple times that I was a natural. graemlins/wink.gif and said I should become a volunteer. I will attribute the smooth stops to years of driving a truck and not that I'm a natural. We'll talk again, Jack, when I have to couple up to a train and I smack it good and hard!
I want to thank Jack graemlins/notworthy.gif for being a great teacher answering all my questions, dumb or otherwise. He really made me feel at ease at the controls. I'll be back as soon as I can to take a few trips in GP20 #2001!
And, I really want to thank my girlfriend, Anne, for a great surprise! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to operate anything at the museum!
John
My girlfriend and I drove up from Santa Rosa Wednesday morning. Didn't see much rail action until we got just outside of Oroville, at James. We saw five trains on our way up the canyon, one of which was a BNSF train, which I imagine came from the High Line.
Of course, the highlight of the trip was the museum. I was all set for a couple of hours spent taking photos when I got a surprise... my girlfriend had rented WP F7 #921-D for me! graemlins/clappy.gif
Jack from the museum demonstrated the controls for me and soon I was zooming along at 10 mph around the museums loop. I say "zooming" because, to me we were! At first, I was very nervous, wondering if I would hit the brakes too hard and put everyone on the floor of the cab or not hard enough and smash into something. Jack was very patient and gave me tips while my girlfriend rode in the fireman's seat and took photos (I'll get them posted as soon as I get them back from the developer). Jack complimented me on my smooth stops, even telling me a couple times that I was a natural. graemlins/wink.gif and said I should become a volunteer. I will attribute the smooth stops to years of driving a truck and not that I'm a natural. We'll talk again, Jack, when I have to couple up to a train and I smack it good and hard!
I want to thank Jack graemlins/notworthy.gif for being a great teacher answering all my questions, dumb or otherwise. He really made me feel at ease at the controls. I'll be back as soon as I can to take a few trips in GP20 #2001!
And, I really want to thank my girlfriend, Anne, for a great surprise! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to operate anything at the museum!
John