By Eric Miller
On one of my first weekends in
Grapevine this past April, I heard the sound of a steam whistle. Once common in the American landscape, today few people hear it. I had an immediate sense of pride that my new town had a steam train. The locals call it
Puffy, and its trek to and from Fort Worth on Grapevine’s vintage railroad is one of the most popular attractions in Grapevine.
Puffy is billed as the oldest continually operating steamer in the South. Having grown up in the railroad town of Altoona, Pa., where many steam locomotives were built, I immediately wanted to know if, like me, Puffy had come to Grapevine from the mountains of Pennsylvania.
I learned the steam engine was actually built at the Cook Locomotive Works in Patterson, New Jersey, and Puffy has a long history: Before making it into service on the Cotton Belt Route between Grapevine and the Fort Worth Stockyards, the engine was owned by a number of parties including a private collector who had planned to operate it in coordination with Walt Disney at a railroad theme park in California. It was also owned by the Texas State Railroad before it was purchased and restored by the Fort Worth and Western Railroad. It went into regular tourist train service in December, 1991 but went into storage again in 1999.
Puffy returned to the rails earlier this year and began a regular Saturday runs. Steam engines are notoriously difficult to keep in working order,
however, and a call to the Grapevine Vintage Railroad revealed the engine is currently being serviced (the 1953 diesel locomotive is serving visitors in the meantime). It is hoped that Puffy will return to regular Saturday service soon, and when it does, you won’t want to miss it on your visit to Grapevine.
If you’ve ever been around a vintage steam locomotive, you know what a memorable experience it is. Even with the advent of robotics, I don’t think any technology comes as close to providing a sense that the machine is alive. The steam, the smoke and the whistle combine to excite the senses, and the slow chug and then another wail of sound reassure us that this is an experience to remember.
Vintage Railroad trains run Thursday through Sunday; the ticket office opens at 11 a.m., or get tickets in advance online.