Letter: Engineer shines as railroad ambassador

 
EDITOR,
I enjoyed the article about Tom Shreve, senior engineer at Roaring Camp (“Engineer hits 40 years at Roaring Camp,” Nov. 16, Page 2). Earlier this year, I had the privilege to be “engineer for a day” — available for purchase at Roaring Camp — with Tom on Shay No. 7. During my day on the Shay, including two round trips up and down the mountain, Tom was kind enough to answer a steady stream of my questions, and he also taught me enough to understand there is a lot more to running such a complex machine than I expected. When my twin grandsons came visiting in the summer, we took the train to the mountain again, and when I stopped to say hello to Tom at the mountaintop layover, he invited the boys to come in the cab for a thorough description of the train controls. It really made their day, and mine, too, that Tom remembered me and was so gracious with two more railroad enthusiasts. Tom is a great ambassador for Roaring Camp, and his wealth of railroad experience is a treasure.
Tom Becket, Santa Cruz