I remember when I used to bring my kids to the museum. They loved the place. It was so special in that they were free to board any locomotive they wanted…. No ropes, no barricades and not a single ‘do not touch’ sign in sight. They were always especially eager to enter the cabs, which at that time were almost always open. A brief scuffle might ensue over who got there first to sit in the engineer’s seat.
As many of you know, the museum had to lock the cabs up some years back due to increasing vandalism. As well built as these locomotives were, they were never intended to be abused from the operator’s seat. The decision to secure the cabs is understandable, but it hasn’t been popular. We’ve had quite a bit of feedback from both the public and the membership requesting more cab access.
An ‘open cab days’ event has been scheduled. We are looking to display several of the popular locomotives up front and prominent in the east yard on June 8th and 9th. The idea is to have the cabs open 10 AM to 5 PM on both days. The event will be used to draw visitors to the museum and promote the Run-A-Locomotive (RAL) program. Caboose trains will also run, so those visitors who want to explore the cab in operation will have an opportunity to do so.
