Flamberg im Sausal, Austria

Curiousity got the best of me, so I asked the conductor if there was an engine at the back of the train, too. If I understood him correctly, he explained that there is no "engine," but an engineer does sit at the back of the train looking at the tracks.

I was offered an opportunity to talk with the engineer, and I eagerly accepted.

The engineer, Johann (not his real name), and I conversed in my just passable German. Johann lives in one town and operates the train as far as another town. Then he waits for a couple of hours and operates another train back home.

Johann drives the train at both ends. At the switching stop, he exited the train and walked all the way to the back, which then became the front.

The train runs on four engines, and the energy to run the engines comes from electric cables above the train. I'm still uncertain as to the actual location of the engines, but I can say that we were on a relatively fast, cross-country train.

The duties of a train engineer includes watching the tracks for obstacles (they do not stop for livestock or wild game), blowing the whistle when approaching villages and roads, monitoring the speed of the train, and following the written train schedule. This schedule indicates the times the train should arrive at each town, which towns to stop in, how long it should wait in each town, and the speed it should go between towns and through villages.

At one point in our train ride, Mom pointed out the train station master in each town. She said that it is the station master's duty to make eye contact with the engineer when a train comes through or stops in his town.

Johann must also push a foot peddle every minute or so. If he doesn't, the train will stop. This is in case the engineer has a heart attack or falls asleep or something.