I can still remember steam when it was in full service, diesels were just coming on the scene but steam was still king. My dad was a professional photographer and also worked for the SP, he was in signal maintenance and rode a speeder to his work. On weekends, he would take my uncle and I along with him and he would go shoot pictures of steam locomotives out on the mainlines. I can remember seeing all kinds of SP steam along with some Santa Fe as well. I was very young at that time but as I got older and just before they killed off the steam program and went over to diesels, I got to see them up close and personal. I also used to go with my dad down to the SP shops here in El Paso and got to see them in a totally different way.
In the early 60's we moved to Stuttgart Germany and they were still running steam at that time too. I loved seeing the German locomotives, I loved the way they were painted also. Look up U-Tube and do a search on German steam trains, there are a bunch of videos showing all of the various locomotives that have been restored, that is a really big deal over there and a tremendous crowd drawer. They have done many many restorations over the years and have brought back so many of the different locomotive classes back to life.
I agree with others, yes you were born a little too late to see in actual service but be thankful that a lot have been restored to running condition so you can see them run, now if only they would run them more often. I know, it's a maintenance issue as it is very expensive but hey, the big guys make lots of money and they can afford it, besides, its a huge public relations thing too.
Good thread.
