Bill Wrote:
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> Bill (Billy) Stetler (AKA "The Worm") also
> operated 2472, and 3751. I rode in a passenger car
> on a trip with 2472 from South San Francisco to
> Sacramento many years ago. I placed a fairly full
> cup of coffee on the table. He never spilled a
> drop in all the stops he had to make through San
> Jose on the old Milpitas Line or the rest of the
> stops and starts he had to make. Very careful,very
> smooth and very professional. Knows how to run a
> steam locomotive. This is not the first time
> "Billy" has run 4449.
> Bill

That, my friend, is the difference between a real locomotive engineer and a week-end warrior who has never handled "real" trains under all sorts of circumstances and conditions. Sitting on a simulator for a few hours or learning to run one locomotive on the same train and on the same territory all the time does not make one an engineer, no matter what the card he's carrying says.

Bill has been a locomotive engineer for UP and BNSF, and is now a Road Foreman (or MOP) for Amtrak. Suffice it to say, he's been around the block a few times. His experience is highly valued by Doyle and other western groups who want pros handling their engines and trains.