In 1973, Jim Rice was looking for a part-time job. Many other young residents of Strasburg made some extra cash when they weren't in school by bagging groceries or staffing Dutch Wonderland. Rice, who was 15 years old at the time, decided he would rather work for the Strasburg Rail Road, and he took a part-time position as a member of the grounds maintenance crew. What Rice didn't know at the time was that he had found more than an after-school gig - it was the start of an adventure that would last 51 years.

"Most of my friends were mowing grass. I applied to work at the railroad since I had some mechanical aptitude for a young kid," said Rice. "I was always interested in machines growing up, but the train part came later."

On Dec. 31, 2024, Rice took his last ride as a full-time employee of the Strasburg Rail Road. Since joining the grounds maintenance crew as a young man, Rice has worn many hats and held many titles, including that of an engineer, road foreman of engines, track supervisor and vice president of operations and roadway.

When Rice turned 18 years old, he asked for a full-time position as a general laborer on locomotives and the track. Although he was always interested in machinery, Rice said he never had an interest in trains until he started working for the railroad. Once he was a full-time employee, Rice learned trades such as welding and machining to become more involved with railroad operations. "That's when I got more interested," said Rice. "I thought that being able to operate something of historical significance and learning the process would be cool."

In addition to getting hands-on experience working on the locomotives, Rice had access to a wealth of information and archived materials about every part of a steam engine and how it functions. Rice was still working as a general laborer when he had his first opportunity to drive a train, after an engineer offered to let him take the reins. "I was pretty taken aback. Here I was, a 20-year-old kid operating this big broiler locomotive," Rice said.

At the same time that Rice was becoming a locomotive expert, the Strasburg Rail Road was growing into more than just a tourist attraction. The historic rail line was restored by a group of train enthusiasts in the late '50s, and ridership during its first year of tourist passenger operations was nearly 9,000. By 1991, annual ridership peaked at 475,000 passengers, and the Strasburg Rail Road had evolved into a nationally known enterprise capable of restoring steam locomotives and contracting specialized equipment to local manufacturers.

Rice said some of his fondest memories at the railroad were times that he rode a steam engine to other parts of Pennsylvania and nearby states, after the National Railway Historical Society began to sponsor the trips in 1985. "We were going 50mph when we were used to going 15mph in Strasburg," Rice added. "It was sort of a 'pinch me' moment."

Although Rice is no longer a full-time employee, he said that he'll be around to offer his insight to help with training new employees and track operations. Now that Rice is retired, he said that he is looking forward to spending more time with his family, hunting and riding his motorcycle.

"The people I've worked with and worked for at the railroad got me this far without any incidents," said Rice. "I feel grateful. It's turned out to be a great place to work."