By Robert Sullivan

robert.sullivan@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — Train enthusiasts young and old were allowed to man the controls to an old diesel locomotive on Saturday as part of the North Carolina Transportation Museum’s “At the Throttle Diesel” event.

Participants were allowed to operate a 1950s-era diesel locomotive around the entirety of the track, following the paths that the museum’s passenger trains typically take. This was the first year that participants were allowed to take the extended trip. In previous years participants drove a shortened path, said NCTM Director of Administration Marcus Neubacher.

“This is the first time we’re doing it this way. Usually, we do the ‘At the Throttle’ program where they get on here and they kind of go back and forth on a certain stretch of track but this time we introduced it to where it’s a different experience and they can actually do the whole loop. They’re going to run the whole route that the train crew would normally run on our tracks here,” said Neubacher.

Those who wished to operate the train did have to go through a safety orientation session before stepping behind the controls, and a licensed locomotive engineer watched over their shoulder throughout the entire trip and provided instructions and guidance as necessary.

“When they come in they get a safety briefing inside and sign waivers, and then they’re shown how to operate the controls. But our licensed engineer is right there to make sure that everything goes correctly,” said Neubacher.

For Mike Setzer’s trip around the tracks, engineer Lane Baker served as the instructor in the cockpit. While Setzer handled the reins of the large diesel engine and controlled the train, Baker made sure that the small moves in piloting the locomotive were followed, such as slowing the speed a few miles per hour or how to signal using the train horn that they were about to cross over a roadway intersection or change directions.

The sale of the tickets for the event opened up on Dec. 15, and the museum reported that almost all of the tickets had been sold by Dec. 19.

“It’s just something that’s kind of a bucket list item for some people, sometimes it’s people that are big train fans and some people just have an interest in mechanical operations and how these things go. It can be a wide variety of people that want to do this,” said Neubacher.

The train the participants operated was the number 6133 FP7 engine made by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in 1950. The train was operated as both a passenger and freight train by Southern Railways for over 20 years and was donated to the museum in 1980.