[N&W] Re: Steam Train Restoration

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

I also have worked at the Illinois Railway Museum for many years (14 to be 
exact) and have fired, engineered, and done maintenance for many 
years.  Jason was correct in that for may years, there were very few young 
people working on steam.  For the last several years, I was the second 
youngest regular worker and I will be 36 in a few months.  I believe until 
about the last year, there were only a few of us under 50.  Luckily, we 
have a new crop of interested members, many of which are under 40.

The key to maintaining a group that can work on steam is to have a mix of 
old and young people.  The older guys need to teach the young guys, and the 
young guys need to learn by experience.   Operating and maintaining a steam 
engine is a lot of work, and the new FRA requirements have only made it 
more time consuming.  Larger engines also take more work than small 
engines.  A Russian decapod is not a large engine, but it is big enough to 
have super heaters, a stoker, and other appliances that small engines don't 
have.  A small non-superheated engine would be a lot less work for a group 
that did not need a large engine.

Jason Maxwell