Tweetsie on track for new season
by Kellen Moore
It will be another two and a half months before Tweetsie's whistle thunders through the mountains again and the laughter of children fills the park.
But inside the Tweetsie Railroad train shop, work is still chugging along to ensure that every moving part in the 55-year-old park is ready for its April 13 opening.
“We play in the summer — in the winter is when we work,” said Frank Aldridge, vice president of engineering, who is now in his 36th year at Tweetsie Railroad.
Aldridge and the seven other employees who work in the locomotive shop are craftsmen of the dying art of steam engine repair and restoration, their exceptional talents masked beneath clothes often covered in coal dust and grease.
While each ride undergoes annual inspections and repairs, the staff this winter are focusing particularly on the Tilt-A-Whirl, the chairlift, the Free Fall and Engine No. 190, known as the “Yukon Queen.”
The Yukon Queen, built in 1943 by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, moved to Tweetsie Railroad in 1960 from Alaska's White Pass & Yukon Railway. The 105-ton train has gotten plenty of attention this winter, as the shop crew has embarked on a complete running gear restoration.
For the first time in about 10 years, they have removed the engine's eight wheels and used an antique lathe more than 100 years old to recontour the steel tires based on precise calculations.
The recontouring process removes the grooves caused by years of service and helps improve traction for the engine as its makes its rounds on the almost three-mile loop.
After the running gear work is complete and the frame and undercarriage get an exhaustive inspection, the staff will reassemble the engine piece by piece.
“The first time we hear it move, that's when we get the satisfaction,” said engineer Scott McLeod.
McLeod, who started as an entertainer in 1997 and “fell in love with the place,” is being groomed this year to take on Aldridge's role.
“These guys have become like family,” McLeod said. “To be a part of that is what has inclined me to stay here.”
It's lucky that the staff have a familial relationship, because the employees must rely on instructions passed down from one mechanic to the next. Aldridge said he will be retired the next time the wheels come off Engine No. 190, so McLeod and the others must have sure memories to keep those and other techniques straight.
“You can't call the manufacturer for tech support,” joked Chris Robbins, owner of Tweetsie Railroad.
Beyond the engine work, the staff also is working to varnish the seats and repaint the passenger cars, weld new hooks to hold the Tilt-A-Whirl frames together and complete numerous other repairs and upgrades.
The knowledge and skills contained in the Tweetsie train shop staff make it the envy of other parks, and the staff is often asked to complete anything from minor repairs to complete locomotive rebuilds for other theme parks such as Busch Gardens, Six Flags, Disney World and Dollywood.
In fact, the gas-powered Mouse Mine train that still delights younger visitors was conceived and built right there in the shop in the 1970s.
Several staff members said it's the daily challenges in the shop that keep them motivated and working.
“I've never had two days the same here,” said Randall Guy, who started as a grass mower for the park 28 years ago.
Their dedicated attention to each train and park ride helps ensure that each generation of new visitors can enjoy the same anticipation and excitement as the generation before — a true point of pride for owner Cathy Robbins.
“I think our park is based a lot on nostalgia,” she said.
And everyone that's part of the Tweetsie family — from owners and train shop employees to cowboys and can-can girls — hope that nostalgia will again draw crowds to the park starting in mid-April.
But inside the Tweetsie Railroad train shop, work is still chugging along to ensure that every moving part in the 55-year-old park is ready for its April 13 opening.
“We play in the summer — in the winter is when we work,” said Frank Aldridge, vice president of engineering, who is now in his 36th year at Tweetsie Railroad.
Aldridge and the seven other employees who work in the locomotive shop are craftsmen of the dying art of steam engine repair and restoration, their exceptional talents masked beneath clothes often covered in coal dust and grease.
While each ride undergoes annual inspections and repairs, the staff this winter are focusing particularly on the Tilt-A-Whirl, the chairlift, the Free Fall and Engine No. 190, known as the “Yukon Queen.”
The Yukon Queen, built in 1943 by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, moved to Tweetsie Railroad in 1960 from Alaska's White Pass & Yukon Railway. The 105-ton train has gotten plenty of attention this winter, as the shop crew has embarked on a complete running gear restoration.
For the first time in about 10 years, they have removed the engine's eight wheels and used an antique lathe more than 100 years old to recontour the steel tires based on precise calculations.
The recontouring process removes the grooves caused by years of service and helps improve traction for the engine as its makes its rounds on the almost three-mile loop.
After the running gear work is complete and the frame and undercarriage get an exhaustive inspection, the staff will reassemble the engine piece by piece.
“The first time we hear it move, that's when we get the satisfaction,” said engineer Scott McLeod.
McLeod, who started as an entertainer in 1997 and “fell in love with the place,” is being groomed this year to take on Aldridge's role.
“These guys have become like family,” McLeod said. “To be a part of that is what has inclined me to stay here.”
It's lucky that the staff have a familial relationship, because the employees must rely on instructions passed down from one mechanic to the next. Aldridge said he will be retired the next time the wheels come off Engine No. 190, so McLeod and the others must have sure memories to keep those and other techniques straight.
“You can't call the manufacturer for tech support,” joked Chris Robbins, owner of Tweetsie Railroad.
Beyond the engine work, the staff also is working to varnish the seats and repaint the passenger cars, weld new hooks to hold the Tilt-A-Whirl frames together and complete numerous other repairs and upgrades.
The knowledge and skills contained in the Tweetsie train shop staff make it the envy of other parks, and the staff is often asked to complete anything from minor repairs to complete locomotive rebuilds for other theme parks such as Busch Gardens, Six Flags, Disney World and Dollywood.
In fact, the gas-powered Mouse Mine train that still delights younger visitors was conceived and built right there in the shop in the 1970s.
Several staff members said it's the daily challenges in the shop that keep them motivated and working.
“I've never had two days the same here,” said Randall Guy, who started as a grass mower for the park 28 years ago.
Their dedicated attention to each train and park ride helps ensure that each generation of new visitors can enjoy the same anticipation and excitement as the generation before — a true point of pride for owner Cathy Robbins.
“I think our park is based a lot on nostalgia,” she said.
And everyone that's part of the Tweetsie family — from owners and train shop employees to cowboys and can-can girls — hope that nostalgia will again draw crowds to the park starting in mid-April.