At the Throttle: Diesel - 6133 Anniversary

Put yourself in the engineer’s seat of Southern Railway FP7 No. 6133! The 6133 was built in 1950 and pulled both freight and passenger trains for the Southern Railway. It has become one of the museum’s most popular locomotives pulling passenger trains, but rarely is it used for “At the Throttle” experiences. This is your chance to operate this beautiful streamlined locomotive! For these special opportunities, take the throttle and run the 6133 for an extended 45-minute session along the route of the museum’s regular passenger trains. That’s 15 minutes longer than our usual sessions, and will give you the opportunity to experience how it feels to run a locomotive on a three mile trip around the museum’s 60-acre property!  You’ll also receive our commemorative 6133 75^th Anniversary t-shirt, along with an engineer’s cap or ball cap, a signed and dated certificate as an Honorary Engineer, and admission to the N.C. Transportation Museum for the Honorary Engineer.

After a quick safety briefing and instructions on how to operate the locomotive, climb aboard for your turn to ride down the rails! Please arrive 30 minutes prior to your selected time for a safety orientation session. Participants must be 18 years of age with a valid driver’s license. Check in at the Barber Junction Visitor Center, where the crew will meet with you to begin your experience. Please be prepared to sign a liability release form prior to your session and show your driver’s license as identification. Clothing appropriate to a working rail yard should be worn at all times. Jeans/overalls/long pants, a long sleeve shirt, and boots are required. Participants wishing to have their picture taken should bring a camera. Museum admission is included for the Honorary Engineer but must be purchased at the Visitor Center for any additional guest during museum operating hours.

Note:  This experience is not ADA accessible. Participant must be able to pull him/herself up from the ground by holding onto railings on the side of locomotive while climbing vertical stairs up the side of the locomotive, then enter the locomotive cab through the side door.  The event takes place rain or shine, and there are no refunds or exchanges.