Amazing!
It really was amazing... this was in 1992 or 1993... and the railroads in Guatemala were tanamount to a time machine... They were running steam locomotives on special trains, and at one point the old head hogger sent the head end brakeman to the bar at a station stop to bring back a bottle of rum and cold case of beer for the engine crew... This engineer was 80 years old and like it was nothing as we are going down the track at 30 MPH (that was maybe good for 10...) he looks over to the brakeman and nods next thing there is a cold Gallo beer in the old head’s hand and with one deft motiin (like he’s done this every day of his 65 year long railroad career... because he has) he places the cap of the bottle on the handlatch of the Johnson bar (reverser lever), pops the cap, and then lifts the bottle to his lips, tipping his head back downing the whole bottle.
I can only describe it... being there was the only way to experience it.
They were still running on hand copied train orders copied at the stations over telegraph... as in you walk into the station and heard the clack clack of the sounder hammering away a Form 19 and there is the telegrapher in his visored brim... it was seriously a step back to American railroads circa 1900...
The only difference was all the men were 5’ tall latinos with distinctly Mayan features.
Good people. They turned over the locomotive to me and my friend John torun at one point... I fired and John ran... and the old hogger just smiled with a twinkle in his eye.
And it’s all gone now.