IN PRAISE OF DIESELS. Tightly Wound trains up her son in the right away. There is a learning curve.

Funny thing about coal burning steam engines that we in SUV-saturated middle America tend to forget: coal burning steam engines produce a lot of black smoke with cinders, and those cinders are drawn to the human eyeball like moths to a flame. Or maybe they're just drawn to my eyeballs. It's hard to appreciate a lovely train ride through the mountains when coal particles are trying to embed themselves in your skull. Although the sensation of cinder-in-the-eyeball is definitely up there in the "unforgettable" category, it wasn't what I had in mind when I expressed the hope that our trip would be "memorable."

Ayup. Those riders with bandannas over nose and mouth, and goggles, are not the cast of the staged "train robbery." Those are experienced steam fans who know what accompanies that "I-think-I-can." A hint to steam fans in the west: oil burners produce liquid cinders.