On Memorial Day Weekend 2003, I took a cruise up Interstate 75 and then across  a few backroads to Grand Rapids, Ohio and the home of the Toledo, Lake Erie and Western Railway & Museum.

The TLE&W runs the "Bluebird" excursion trains using three coaches, which when I arrived, were coupled to a former Chesapeake and Ohio Alco S-4 locomotive, now part of the TLE&W collection.

The train, operating out of a temporary loading area, gives the appearance you're back in the 1950s with a little step-up box at the side of the last passenger car.

You can imagine my surprise when the train crew, due to there only being two passengers on board, said they would uncouple the locomotive and we could join the crew there.  Wow--my first locomotive cab ride!

It was definitely a different experience looking down the tracks over the hood of the locomotive...

...and seeing a weather-worn whistlepost, just as the engineer hit the whistle horn!

At one point, track maintenance was underway, so we reversed direction and ran backwards to where we started.

After the trip, I walked around the Alco to get a few locomotive pictures and noticed how clean the power trucks were--cleaner than I had observed anywhere else!

I'd like to thank my new friends at the TLE&W for providing my first locomotive cab ride--I had a blast!

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For more information and their train schedule, please visit the TLE&W Web Site.