Conducting Trains and Choirs
by admin on Nov.20, 2009, under SMVRR
It was a red letter day for me today! It was my first “solo” run on the SMVRR as a qualified conductor. I put solo in quotes as James was my engineer and helped immensely in the process of getting it all done correctly. By the end of the day (7 hours on the train), I was worn out. This railroading stuff is hard work!
I got to thinking that conducting a train, at least for me, is much like conducting a choir. These are the two things I’ve experienced that are so fun and challenging at the same time that I think of absolutely nothing else when I’m doing them. It’s not that I don’t want to think of other things, it’s that I can’t because both require such focus. And because of that, these two activities are very relaxing in the long run. All the other cares just disappear for the time while I’m engaged.
The picture below was taken last July at a Friends of the SMVRR event. Virlon was running us through a basic training on hand signals and car coupling. I had neither the time nor the inclination to worry about photos today.
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All Aboard!
The rails of a railroad track are kept shiny on the top by the regular passage of trains. Thus, "To Shiny Rails" is the battle cry of my personal effort to keep railroading activities of all kinds available to as many people as possible. It's tantamount to exclaiming "Keep those trains a rollin'!". And with any luck at all, I'll personally be on as many of those trains as possible! To shiny rails, Jamie
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