What a great question. I can think of two instances that stand out. The first occurred during the 1992 NRHS Convention in San Jose. One of the featured excursions was a trip from SJ to Stockton and return using UP Challenger 3985. As a convention volunteer I organized the bus connection for the excursions and was working as a car host on the Stockton trip. Just prior to leaving Stockton excursion director Hal Lewis came up to me and asked "Would you like to ride up front?". I soon found myself in the dance hall sized cab of this spectacular locomotive along with the likes of Steve Lee and Bob Krieger. Just being there made my head spin. Perhaps the most memorable part of the trip was charging through Livermore at track speed while the throngs of humanity who were waiting to see the train parted like waters of the Red Sea as we roared through town. There is nothing quit like "BIG STEAM".

The second instance happened when I was a new engineer on the V&T between Gold Hill and Virginia City. Being a rookie I spent occasional training time in the right hand seat but it's not the same as when you're on your own. On this particular day we had just departed Gold Hill and 2-8-0 #29 was approaching tunnel 4. I had her hooked up and the throttle set for the extended climb to the top of the hill. Almost immediately I noticed that the locomotive seemed to be running "happy". She seemed to be in a grove that I never noticed before. It could be felt in the seat of my pants. Since that time this has occurred frequently and is a combination of just the right throttle setting and cut off to match the load and probably even the weather. A good fireman also helps. It's a great feeling to be able to sit back and enjoy the machine happily doing what she was designed to do. There are other days, however, when it seems that you can never get things set right and have to struggle the whole day.