It’s not uncommon for a trainee to become a trainer in the world of rail preservation. Tyler Chipman has taken on this path himself, beginning as a volunteer student conductor and engineer at Chattanooga’s Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Today, the 25-year-old is both training and educating others in his part-time role at the museum.
How did you get involved in rail preservation?
Tyler Chipman: My dad and I have talked about that quite a bit. I’m not sure if I got interested in it first or if my dad did. I do know that somehow one of us got interested in it, and then we started visiting the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. I was lucky because I only grew up about 10 minutes away from Grand Junction there. So it’s a pretty easy trip for us, thankfully, and I just kind of fell in love with it.
Also, my grandfather worked for the Southern Railway, and eventually Norfolk Southern Corp., at the Chattanooga diesel shop for over 30 years. I guess you could kind of say it’s kind of in my blood. So definitely a little connection there as well.
I also met [TVRM employee] Travis Gordon 20 years ago, and we had always been friends whenever we were just hanging out at the museum. I used to spend a lot of Saturdays over there just riding the trains. Travis would always be on the train and I just rode around with him. When I finally got to where I could actually be in operations, he was already active in that and was usually one of the people that I would get paired with for training.
As a young preservationist at age 25, what have you found to be the most challenging aspects in the industry?
Tyler Chipman: I guess one of the biggest challenges, which I’ll hit on a little bit more later, is just getting your foot in the door.
Then as far as training people, one thing I always tell my trainees now is to never stop learning. Everybody does things differently, but if you can take something from every single person that you work with and make it your own, then you’ll be really good. Especially keep an open mind and get better at what you’re doing.
What’s been the most rewarding for you so far?
Tyler Chipman: I know for me, whenever I’m on the train and able to answer a question for people who otherwise might not have had an interest in trains, and I pass that information along, it really makes me happy to see others taking the interest. You never know who you’ll make an impact on.
Where do you see rail preservation as it is today and what do you hope it’ll become for the future?
Tyler Chipman: I think we’re in a really good spot right now. If you look at just the growth of it, there’s a lot of stuff out there nowadays. My hope for the future is that it keeps growing in a positive direction and that more of the younger generation will keep getting involved.
What advice would you give for any young person looking to get involved in the industry?
Tyler Chipman: This is a question I get a lot of as well. Whenever I’m on the train over the weekends being the engineer or conductor, I always tell people: “You see me out here doing the fun stuff now, but what you don’t see is all the hours spent doing what might not be considered fun.” Like washing cars, cleaning up garbage, and cleaning the property. Just all the little things that I help do in order to get to where I am now.
So, my biggest advice would be to give it your best effort, don’t get discouraged, and never be afraid to ask questions. If things don’t go the way you wanted them to at the beginning, just keep your head down and make it happen.
