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whichever kid had run past all the others to sit in the very rear. You could see they knew something was up as I approached them and made eye contact.

"Okay, my friend," I'd say, "you're sitting in the conductor's seat, so you have some extra responsibility today." I'd park the cap on their head and say, "Now you take a good look and see that everyone has their hands and feet inside the cars and is properly seated. When you can see everybody's safe, you wave to me - I'll be up there in the engine - and you holler 'All aboard!' Then we can go. Okay?"

I never had a refusal. Some turned a little shy, but I always waited until I heard that little voice say "All aboard!" before I gave the whistle a sharp pull - HOOT! HOOT! -
and eased into the throttle.

We'd leave the station and almost immediately pass under the deck of the snack bar above, then out into the sun and climb gently left to the top of the hill where the tunnel house was located. At night, the train was locked safely away in the tunnel house, but during ride time it was the perfect place to blow the whistle - to the chagrin of the parents sometimes, but always to the delight of the kids. "HOOT! HOOT! HOOOOT!" The echo in the tunnel house made it sound a lot louder, and combined with the amplified rumbling of the wheels, it was a simple and satisfying excursion into noise just for noise's sake.

Downhill out of the tunnel house and curving left, I began to ring the engine's bell, "LING-LING...LING_LING!" because there was a service gate that opened blind across the track at that point. Once in a while someone working in the petting area would forget there was a railroad going past, and I didn't want someone foolishly stepping into the path of the engine.

And - I'll admit it - I did some things that weren't in the job description. If workers had left that service gate open, I'd set the throttle to idle and swing down alongside the still-moving train, running ahead and slamming the gate, then turning just in time to grab the rail on the cab and slide up into the Engineer's seat again. Sometimes I got applause for this feat of daring-do...but I never told management I did it.

Sometimes I'd pretend the full load of passengers was too much for the little engine to haul up that slope toward the tunnel house. I'd ease off the throttle until the train stopped, turn and say, "Well, sorry folks...heavy load. We'll just have to back up and try it again."
Then I'd let the train free-wheel backwards into the station again,

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