San Diego's Railroad Museum Steam Locomotive Cab ride at Campo, Ca.

Riding in a steam locomotive cab is a great experience and we plan to do it again. We took the 26 mile roundtrip from Campo, Ca to Miller Creek and back; an hour and a half ride into the picturesque hills and backcountry of San Diego's east  County.  The Southern Pacific Company's #2353, a 1912 Baldwin, Class T-1, 4-6-0 steam engine, was restored in 1995, after it spent 29 years languishing as an exhibit at the Imperial County Fairgrounds.  

Above left- A long shot of some of the railroad equipment on display at SDRM (now operated by the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum). Right- Gail, out front with the Campo Station Master and the crowd in the rear, all waiting to board one of the 4 vintage passenger cars.

Above left- 2353 showing off its 63" drivers, its 41 foot length and 162,000 lbs. Right- Along the way, the engineer blows out some boiler sediment and gives the passengers a thrill. 

Above left- The old ten-wheeler at a stop along the way to Miller Creek.  The train stopped at all surface roads in order to protect the crossing with a flagman. 

Above left- shows the restored green bead board ceiling of the engine's cab and the steam manifold.  Right- You'll see no speedometer among all the valves and gauges, the engineer calculated his speed by counting number of revolutions of his 63" drivers in 10 seconds and doing the math.

For those who don't know where Campo fits on a Railroad map, what frequencies are used and what railroads are involved, click here.   And for a quick tour of the museum click here.