Once upon a time a 3-year-old boy from the Anderson Valley rode the Skunk Train and dreamed the dream of countless other kids to be a conductor, in his blue suit, in charge of the fabulous iron machine.
Naturally, the boy was impressed by the big huffing and clanging iron dragon when he came for a ride at least once a year. But even more he was enamored by the gleaming pocket watch that followed a long chain out of the pocket of spiffily dressed conductor Charlie Spencer.
“When you see a chain leading into a pocket and you don”t know what”s at the other end of it, it makes a kid”s imagination really go,” said Robert Pinoli, now 35.
Later, little boy Robert would dress up as a conductor and impress conductors and riders with his knowledge of railroad history and how trains worked. Other long since retired conductors like Gary Richards and Bob Reid let the boy ride in the engine and drive the train.
In high school, Pinoli was something of a wunderkind, starting several businesses and getting stories written about him in Forbes and the New York Times.
But he also got a job others might not have treasured so washing trains, including the big engines and even freight trains in those days. He stayed at the California Western Railroad and trained as a brakeman and then became a conductor.
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