Thor Windbergs

Greetings, GriaB Dia, Ola! Welcome to my Site Thor's Steam World. I have been leading up to this for a long time. Contaminated at birth by my father with Steam in my blood, reportedly my first word was "Caboose". I have been fallow my father around for a long time before I started off on my own Steam Railroad adventure. Around 1986/87 I started in as a volunteer in the shop of the Georgetown Loop railroad. Bernie Watts was nice enough to start me out, where else, in the inside of the boiler of Shay#14 with a needle scaler. I also got the first swing at the new firebox tubesheet for the #14, and promptly dented the glowing steel sheet with the bronze sledge hammer. Over sometime I helped out and got to learn to fire the Baldwin 2-8-0 #40 alittle. But I never had to time to tryout fulltime. Bernie always warned me steam railroading is great as a hobby, but darn hard way to make a living... After I gave up working as "do it all" at an electronics company in Boulder I went off to school in Durango. A cool town, and what could also be my motivation but to get a job as a fireman on the Durango & Silverton.. Five school years pre-engineering/German studies and four summers (90-94)working as Fireman and Engine Watchman later, I had to move on into the phase as a supressed steam railroader. I spent 1 year to an exchange program in Regensburg, Germany. In Germany I went back to the roots, studied German and all else except engineering, but had an engineering internship at the company where my father grew up and my grandfather worked for some 35 years, KraussMaffei AG in Munich. There I was allowed to do some odd jobs including mounting parts on the ICE2 Locomotive bodies. But as an exchange student in Regensburg I got my introduction to the BMW AG. And after returning to continue my Mechanical Engineering degree in Univ. of Colorado, Boulder I returned to an engineer intern summer job at BMW in Regensburg in 97. I continued on at BMW returning as engineer trainee in 98' and finally emmigrated back to Germany after my graduation in 99' again to BMW. After a 1 year job at BMW I moved on to Robert Bosch Gasoline Systems Engineering in 2000 where I have been ever since. Currently I am ending an almost 3 year contract with Bosch here in Brazil where we have developed a new ethanol fuel heating system, called FlexStart to assist the Brazilian FlexFuel cars in starting with the 100% bio-ethanol common here. So now you may see how I have come to move from Colorado Narrow Gauge territory, to Germany, to Brazil and back to Germany. Unfortunetly, my steamed heart is in love with the PerusPiraPora and soon I will have to help only from a far. So please enjoy my stories and travels and consider helping Steam Railroads out however or where can... habe die Ehre, it is my honour, abraco Thor W.

narrow gauge steam locomotives