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I'm a 60+ year old married
father of two and grandfather of three. I
worked as an engineer after graduating
from Clemson University with a degree in
Mechanical Engineering in 1978. In 2017 I
retired after a long career.
More than any others, two
people inspired my interest in steam
locomotives: my father, and one of
my professors at Clemson, Dr. D.W.
Bradbury.
My father grew up in the 1920's-1930's,
living close to the mainline of the Atlantic
Coast Line Railroad. Like most boys his age,
he took a great interest in watching steam
locomotives thunder through town, and when I
was growing up he told me several tales from
his youth about his experiences.
While I was at Clemson University, Dr.
Bradbury made an off-hand remark during a
class once about seeing a train of dead
steam locomotives during the 1950's on the
Southern Railway which passed through
Clemson. Dr. Bradbury made a comment about
how it was a sad sight, but that steam
locomotives were dirty, inefficient, and
obsolete. Something in his manner led me to
believe he didn't really believe
that, and soon I found myself visiting the
school library to find every book I could
find on steam locomotives.
For two years in 1982 and
1983, I was employed by the Norfolk
Southern Railway. I was fortunate to work
with a lot of old railroaders, some of
whom had actually enjoyed working on
dirty, nasty, antiquated, aggravating
steam locomotives. I got hands-on steam
experience assisting with repairs and
operation of NKP 765 on several occasions,
and I was lucky enough to ride in the cab
of N&W 611 from Bucyrus, Ohio to
Bellevue, Ohio with Mr. Robert Claytor at
the throttle.
I spent a lot of time
collecting books and technical information
and reading about steam locomotives. In
the early 1980's, I corresponded with
American Coal Enterprises about
employment, and I feel sure that I would
have been right there when they lit the
first fire if the ACE 3000 had ever been
built.
Since retirement, I've had
the opportunity to work with FMW providing
engineering support on a couple of steam
locomotive projects.
This web page is the result
of years of saying "I wonder why nobody
writes anything about the ACE 3000, or
what's going on with steam around the
world, etc."
Since this page went on
line, I've gotten many e-mails from around
the world from people who share my
interests. I was even fortunate enough to
correspond with steam master Ing. L.D.
Porta, who passed away in 2003.
I hope you enjoy this page,
too.
Hugh Odom
July 21, 1998 (updated 3 February 2022)
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