Not really... Wrote:
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> HW, this is in response to your post over on TO
> including the statement "After more than 40 years
> of firing 4449...".
>
> No matter how much you crow or pat yourself on the
> back, you ain't fired the 4449 (or any other
> engine for that matter) for "more than 40 years".
>
>
> Add up all your ACTUAL left side time in any steam
> engine. Let each 8 hour period equal one day and
> each 6 day period equal one week. Allow 50 weeks
> per year, then let us know how many REAL years of
> experience you've got.
>
> Or, should you prefer, add up all firing miles and
> let us know that total. We'll call each 100 miles
> one day and each 600 miles one week (again 50
> weeks per year). That'd also give a decent
> approximation of full-time experience.
>
> The guaranteed result? Your experience level is
> actually equal to that of a relative cub, three or
> four years I'm guessing.
>
> There are folks accumulating real experience in
> the modern era but they aren't "weekend warriors".
> They're working someplace like Strasburg that runs
> a real steam schedule.
>
> On the other hand there's a portion of the
> excursion crowd who make a few runs scattered over
> twelve consecutive months and call that a good
> year of experience. Guess who?
>
> I'm sure you're familiar with the old T&E
> necessity called a "time book". They're awesome
> but there's a trick to them: you have to work
> consistently and record time in there to
> accumulate actual experience.
>
> Sitting at home thinking about it ain't quite good
> enough...

Awww, poor baby. Wah wah wah. Don't be jealous. Maybe your mommy will buy you a toy train to play with . . . maybe a passifier, too.