Here are a couple more shots my dad got on his cell phone while I worked this weekend.
As mentioned above, last weekend was the first of three Day out with Thomas with Strasburg RR's converted 1917 Porter 0-6-0 taking care of trains. During the week, one of our two (soon to be three) operating steamers or the GE 50 ton diesel take care of trains. I'm the new guy and still learning, so Sunday afternoon was spent in the cab of our 1932 4-4-0 (a converted 1800's Manchester 0-4-0) with one of the other railroaders learning how to warm up a locomotive. It had been operating on Friday, so the boiler water was still pretty warm. It's an interesting process
I'll tell you, I had a tough time getting coal where I wanted it to go in the firebox. Some of you firing veterans make it look so easy 
We got her up to pressure, I did all the greasing on the rods and eccentrics, the hostler backed her onto the turntable for a trip to the ash pit and water column (judging when to shut off the water valve on the column takes some practice as well, luckily I got it just in time) and eventually got her on the wash rack for the next day after a stop in the roundhouse for some more lubrication on the lead truck. I've only worked 4 days total so far, but I've been having a blast. Definitely not a light duty industry to be in. I felt it in my arm muscles for a couple days after.
I ended the day riding along on the 1942 USN GE 50 tonner for some switching of our passenger cars for the weeks trains after Thomas went into the roundhouse for his daily inspection. The diesel is a neat little locomotive, but I definitely like being in the cab of the steam locomotives better. Much more to watch and tinker with, and not quite as noisy as having a prime mover rumbling in front of and behind you.
