Father's Day Memories

Father's Day is less than weeks away. Now, Father's Day is supposed to be about Dad. Sometimes, though, Dad has to put his foot down and say what he really wants to do.

A number of years ago, Diane and the boys wanted to take me out for a nice lunch after church, followed by who knows what other activities. I had other ideas, though. You see, Union Pacific's Challenger 3985 was coming to town.

627,900 pounds of steam engine heaven.

A 4-6-6-4 locomotive capable of hauling freight at up to 70 miles per hour.

And it was coming into the Union Pacific yard in Milwaukee - well technically Butler - on Father's Day!!!

Now I have nothing against nice lunches and activities with the family, but the chance to see the largest and heaviest operational steam locomotive in the world may only come around once in my lifetime. So, we grabbed a quick lunch at Taco Bell instead of whatever Diane's original idea of a nice lunch was and we headed to the Hampton Avenue overpass to watch for the Challenger's arrival.

It was quickly obvious that I was not the only father who thought this was the perfect way to spend a Father's Day afternoon. We, along with hundreds of other people, lined the south side of the overpass watching for the train's approach as it made its way up from Chicago on its excursion.

Thick, black smoke was visible on the horizon long before we could hear the sound the mighty locomotive's approach. The sight and sound of the massive machine reached us miles before the locomotive actually arrived. I watched in awe as this engineering marvel approached and came to a stop just shy of the overpass. The crew jumped out and began their task of backing off the boiler and releasing the built up steam pressure. The engineer called up to the bridge that we were all free to come down once the crew had completed making it safe.

We all made our way down a rather steep, rocky, weed-infested path from the road above to the rail yard below. It wasn't the easiest task for Diane since she was still wearing low heels; but she did it. We all walked down so we could look at the mighty Challenger 3985 up close.

The drive wheels were almost six feet in diameter - towering over the boys as they stood beside the massive locomotive.

Steam rose from the pistons and valves. The locomotive gently hissed as we approached; almost as if it was beckoning us to marvel at its beauty. Many of the passengers who had paid dearly to take part in this excursion disembarked and strolled with the rest of us around the locomotive as the oilers readied this railroad masterpiece for the next leg of the journey.

We created memories to last a lifetime.

We have built other Father's Day memories through the years, but seeing the Challenger 3985 remains one of my most treasured. Our family started a new Father's Day tradition a couple of years ago that moves to the complete opposite end of the spectrum - IndyCar races! The annual IndyCar race at the Milwaukee Mile moved to Father's Day weekend a few years ago. Now if there is one thing I love as much as steam locomotives, it is open wheel race cars! (Real racecars don't have fenders - sorry NASCAR fans!)

One of the boys' closest friends from college is the son of a bigwig in IndyCar. He gave us passes to the race the first year and full access passes for the entire weekend last year. He gave us a personal, behind-the-scenes tour of the technical inspection area and pit boxes. It was a geeky race fan's dream!!!

Perhaps the most remarkable moment of our Father's Day weekend at the races tradition came last year when I met three-time Indianapolis 500 Winner Johnny Rutherford. He may be the most special winner in my mind because he won the 1974 Indianapolis 500 just three weeks before Dad died. It was the last race Dad and I watched together - tape delayed on ABC - and I got to meet the winner. Standing with him brought back memories of those Memorial Day cookouts in the back yard; the race on the radio as Dad and I tended to the pork steaks on the grill. It's funny how little things bring back memories. It has been nearly four decades, but merely meeting Johnny Rutherford made it seem like it was just yesterday again.

We'll be at the track again this year, although the tradition will be a little different because Matthew won't be with us. We'll be taking in the sights and sounds of open wheel racing, celebrating Father's Day, and maybe, just maybe, resurrecting old memories as we build new ones.