Thanks for the suggestion Hot Water. Part of the plan is for me to study as much as humanly possible and most importantly volunteering at the Orange Empire Railway Museum. They offer all the training I could ask for. Since I plan to make this an oil fired locomotive, the locomotive I would learn on is an oil fired locomotive, as I know oil firing can be difficult for both the engineer and the fireman. The fireman has to adjust to everything the engineer does. It would definitely make sense to fire first then learn how to run the locomotive as I'm reading now that is generally how things are done.
The next step for me is to get my driver's license and begin talking to the T1 Trust to see what their plan for the Franklin Poppet Valves are. I also plan to talk to the Strasburg Railroad and the UP Steam Crew in order to learn as much as possible.
I do really appreciate you offering your knowledge as I know you are a 4449 fireman and thus know all about steam, how it works, and firing a big oil-fired 4-8-4. I hope you don't mind so many questions being asked, there's just so much kids like me don't know as steam was much before our time. It would seem my generation has yet to realize the importance of preserving history, specifically steam.
