I have driven a small Barclay 0-4-0 ‘Lady Nan’ on the East Somerset Railway for a tenner. I’ll show you a photo when I can Couldn’t find an image of me on it, but I found a image of what is looks like
I had a brief experience on a tank engine. Opened the regulator and got the engine moving, then the driver took over as we run around a train. I can't say it was half as exciting as operating a diesel. I might treat myself for Christmas. And book a drive in a 207 demu next year.
Not a Steam Engine, But I've driven D123 (Class 45) on the Great Central Railway. Drove it back in 2019, With speeds limited to 25mph I could feel the power of the locomotive, just wanting to be released.
Been in a cab of a few steam engines on tourist rr here in US , I have got to run a bit, 2 diesels a EMD SD9 and a 15 mile brief at the throttle of a GE C30 7A on a empty coal train 25 mph branch line operation but still was a awesome experience for me ,came as a suprise i was videotaping the cab ride when the engineer asked me if i wanted to trade jobs ..he said ill let you run the engine and he run the video camera ..it was just one of those memories i wont forget .
Can't say I have had my hands on the controls of one, but been on the footplate a few times and even that in itself is just so fascinating.
I've never driven a steam locomotive, but I've been in the cab of a couple, most recently the Valley Railroad's #3025. That said, I've driven streetcars about a dozen times, usually at the Connecticut Trolley Museum, but my first time was up in Maine at the Seashore. Obviously nowhere near the skill required to run steam, but still pretty fun. The Valley Railroad offers paid experiences starting at $700 to run their steam locomotives https://essexsteamtrain.com/experiences/hand-on-the-throttle/ The Danbury Railway Museum offers similar for their diesel locomotives, albeit on a much shorter run https://www.danburyrail.org/throttle I wish Danbury offered their program for their RDC, I feel like running a Budd car would be a blast.
I regularly drive 7 1/4 inch gauge locomotives, volunteering at Barnard's Miniature Railway in Essex. They are generally lovely locos to work with, but the ones with roofs are quite a squeeze! (I'm not driving in the photo.)
Not steam but I will be driving a HST at the end of this month on the Nene Valley Railway. Really can't wait for that! I am interested in doing a steam experience on the Severn Valley sometime though. Preferably in a GWR Pannier or 1450 now that it's finally back in steam.
I've been on the footplate of 45407 'Lancashire Fusilier' but have never driven a steam loco. I'd like to try but it might be a bit complex for my autistic brain. I did drive 37250 light loco back in May 2023 for a couple of hours between Bedale and Leyburn on the Wensleydale Railway. I also had several cab rides (some short) in various diesel locos and units including 142 Pacers, a 143 Pacer, a 121 bubble car, a class 33 and a class 47. I did film the cab ride in 47701 at the end of 2023 and also in the 121 bubble car in February 2024 (both now taken down from YouTube).
Not yet. I've been on plenty of footplates and had a cab ride in a Class 33, but a chance to drive might have to wait until we're on the other side of this recession, depression, cost-of-living-crisis or whatever it is that's forcing us to spend most of our money on much less interesting stuff. But soon... soon I shall drive all the things.
I may well learn to drive one at some point. I'm going to go diesel first though. Problem is you've got to be a fireman before you before a driver of a steam engine and that's back breaking stuff.
