Tommy answers the often asked question of why he left the Santa Fe in the early 50's. 

Tommy continues talking about the Harbor District with a few more stories. 

Welcome to the Harbor District. Before it was dismantled by the Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and Union Pacific, the Harbor District was like the wild west of the railroad. There were no crossing gates and the people who worked there were rugged cowboys. But they were hard workers and Tommy enjoyed working there. Here is the first installment of the Harbor District.

Employee timetables are a required piece of running a train. Find out what happens when Tommy doesn't have a time table

Tommy talks about what it takes to get a train over Tehachapi using steam engines.

Tommy talks about what a hostler job is and a few good times he had when he worked them.

Intro and Outro: Sounds of Santa Fe Steam Locomotives by Stan Kistler Track 14 At Riverside, October 16 1950, 4-6-2 1369 is on No. 54.

How do you learn how to fire a steam engine? Well, according to Tommy, you stand outside the Train Masters door until he hires you. Then you find Engineers who will take you out on training trips. In this episode, he talks about learning how to fire over the Tehachapi Loop, one of the most intense grades in the United States. 

Intro and Outro: Sounds of Santa Fe Steam Locomotives by Stan Kistler Track 14 At Riverside, October 16 1950, 4-6-2 1369 is on No. 54 

When you see trains in the movies, they are run by railroaders like Tommy. He always managed to figure out when the movie trains were running and position himself so that he was available. Tommy's knowledge about theater also helped to make the train look perfect and steal the show (in his eyes!)

Intro and Outro:Sounds of Santa Fe Steam Locomotives by Stan Kistler Track 14 At Riverside, October 16 1950, 4-6-2 1369 is on No. 54 

In the late 80's, Amtrak started using Cab Cars on their trains so that the train wouldn't have to be turned around at the end of the line. In the beginning, they had many problems and you could leave it to Tommy to be the voice that let the powers that be know this!

Also, what would you do if you saw the engineer lying in the middle of the isle of your passenger car when he was supposed to be running the train???

Intro and Outro:Sounds of Santa Fe Steam Locomotives by Stan Kistler Track 14 At Riverside, October 16 1950, 4-6-2 1369 is on No. 54 

What was the purpose of a caboose? They haven't always just sat, abandoned, in train yards or used as restaurants or B &Bs. In this episode, Tommy will tell you who used the caboose and what it was used for.

Intro and Outro:Sounds of Santa Fe Steam Locomotives by Stan Kistler Track 14 At Riverside, October 16 1950, 4-6-2 1369 is on No. 54