Steam & Excursion > Hey Mikey, I Think She Likes It! Six Year Old's Reaction To 4449

My six year old has been on the Holiday Express every year she's been around for and has always been a 4449 fan. But, the stars had never aligned for her to see a mainline trip until this week. She's always wanted to see a "fast drive like on Youtube", and with the infamous Amtrak Announcement, I worried we'd missed her chance. The trips in the Columbia Gorge this week called for action! I surprised her first with a jailbeak from school, followed by a rendezvous with my brother and his six year old daughter(pretty much her favorite person),and Grandma was dragged out for another train chase. She didn't know 4449 was coming until it flew around the corner coming west out of Bingen and the chase was on! I expected her to be momentarily excited, but the intensity did not let up until we were headed home. I think engineer Mike Warren's performance that day will be a fond memory for her for years to come!

The audio in the second video is terrible wind in a camera phone stuff(kiddo insisted I let her use my camera, then forgot she had it most of the time), but it'll do for showing how exciting a Big Steam experience can be for a young one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/18 19:39 by A-1.

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

The best.

Reminds me of an audio recording my dad made of my sister while we chased the J in the early 90s.

As the 611 roared into view you can hear all of her 8-year-old self exclaim "Look! It's REAL!"

As if the existence of something so wonderful could have only been a thing of dreams previously...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/18 17:45 by nathansixchime.

Ohhh.... I LOVE your daughter's shouts of joy!! And her "GO! GO! GO! GO!!!" That is a wonderful, wonderful video!! Man -- if THAT doesn't turn her into a railfan, NOTHING will! I know EXACTLY how she felt!! I feel the same way about the 4449 -- and I am almost 70 years older than your amazing and wonderful daughter, and the 4449 on the high iron at speed overwhelms all of us, and turns all of us into duplicates of your 6-year-old daughter -- IF we are honest about our emotions! Those are two of the BEST videos of the 4449 I have ever seen -- they are so human. Wow..... Just wow..... THANK you from the bottom of my heart for taking your daughter and her cousin to chase the 4449. That day is going to be one of your sweetest and most wonderful memories ever. Priceless..... just priceless.......

THANK you, A-1. Thank you.

nathansixchime / Kelly Lynch --
That is soooo beautiful! I LOVE your sister's reaction to the 611! Wow..... And I love bow beautifully you expressed how hard it can be to believe that something so wonderful can actually be real. Thank you, Kelly, for that wonderful memory.

There is NOTHING like the incredible overwhelming impact of seeing a big main-line steam locomotive at speed for the first time. It IS real -- after all! Pictures and even really good videos cannot even come within light-years of the reality of BEING there IN the experience. But A-1's videos come very close.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/18 17:50 by Margaret_SP_fan.

nathansixchime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The best.
>
> Reminds me of an audio recording my dad made of my
> sister while we chased the J in the early 90s.
>
> As the 611 roared into view you can hear all of
> her 8-year-old exclaim "Look! It's REAL!"
>
> As if the existence of something so wonderful
> could have only been a thing of dreams
> previously...

From one Kelly to another, I know exactly how you felt……

WOW, that is so cool. It brought tears to my eyes since there is nothing more wonderful than children showing total joy at something other than an iPhone or Twitter. Your daughter is perfect.

Pacing a mainline steam locomotive is the second greatest thing in the world.

Tom

Here's one of the videos she shot. Not half bad for a six year old that's all jacked up on M&Ms and adrenaline!

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

Well if that's not what it's all about - excellent!

Must love to see that from the cab!

/Mitch

Priceless.

4449 and excited kids on pacing videos is beyond EXCELLENT!!! Thank you so much for these videos.
SuperChiefDon

Oh man, what fun! Pure unbridled happiness!
Thanks for sharing those with us.

S_W

Posted from Android

Wow, that's what it's all about! Great videos.

nycman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow, that's what it's all about! ...


It sure is, Jim. It brings joy to my heart every time I see it from a cab no matter what the size, from the 9-ton WP&Z #1 to the 440-ton SP&S #700. Steamers just have that special attraction for people that can never be matched by diesels, electrics or any other form of locomotion. I've always been so grateful to be among the few hundred enginemen in the country who are privileged to participate in producing that excitement for people. I was even younger than that girl when I started climbing the back yard fence at my home in Wishram to catch a narrow view of the steamers passing by.

Of the hundreds of trips I made over that same route on Amtrak and on SP&S passenger service before Amtrak, I never once saw that kind of excitement exhibited by a child looking at the diesel-electric on my train. For that very reason I've often wished that I had been a twin of my engineer father instead of his son so that I could have worked the steam-every-day era.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/18 23:09 by Jim700.

Ha!  That's Great!  
A brilliant posting- Thanks! 
SR

That's priceless!

I haven't been THAT excited since David Freise hit that homer in game six of the World Series against the Rangers!

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

EXCELLENT!!!!!!

I'm currently on the phone with Mr. McCormack, and he just stated, "You made my day!!!!".

Not only that, you daughter's video shows two important scenes:

1) They are using the blowdowns.

2) The IMAX helicopter is in view.

Thus, your daughter's video is VERY significant. THANKS A BUNCH!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/18 12:21 by HotWater.

The unbridled excitement is priceless...thank you for sharing!

Excellent videos of real life kid excitement. Who cares about how the audio came out, it is reality and adds to the excitement.

Thank you for posting them.

That's me as a kid, seing the 4449 and full SP train on the Carquinez Bridge, then rounding the corner going through Martinez... wow. Sold me i always loved trains. But as a Kid, that was a wow moment. I am thankful my dad had a coworker who was big into trains. That is the only way he would have known this beauty was coming by. Amazing to think what our world was like with no internet!

Posted from Android



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/18 15:29 by goduckies.

A-1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...The audio in the second video is terrible wind in
> a camera phone stuff(kiddo insisted I let her use
> my camera, then forgot she had it most of the
> time), but it'll do for showing how exciting a Big
> Steam experience can be for a young one.

That second video will be a classic!!!!  Who cares about the wind, it's her reaction and camera handling that makes it real!  Three thumbs up!

mapboy