When I was a kid I used to hang around the San Jose depot and see the Daylight come in. One of the passenger conductors asked if I would like to take a ride with them. He said he remembered when he was a kid he was always hanging around the railroad. He was on a regular job to San Luis Obispo; down on #70 The Coaster and return on #99 the Daylight. I got my mom's permission (I was 16) and rode several trips. He always put me in the rear observation car on the return trip from SLO.

Of course the next step was for him to fix me up with a ride on the head end and that he did. BTW this was during WWII in 1944. On one trip returning on #99 along about Coyote the engineer had to respond to a call of nature and he told me to get up on his seat box and to blow the whistle (air horn on the 4458 for crossings). This is the trip that comes to mind when I remember those days.

Later I hired out with SP for 42 years and put in thousands of miles in the cab.

Ken