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Idling just alongside America’s Cup Avenue on a recent Sunday morning sits a behemoth 1945 electric diesel train engine. It's gearing up to pull a 1904 passenger coach and 1884 office car filled with families and visitors for a 10-mile journey that will bring them up the western edge of Aquidneck Island.

When these train enthusiasts board the passenger cars of the Old Colony and Newport Railway, it’s not about getting from point A to point B; it’s about learning the history of the rails on the island, about the experience of riding in a turn-of-the-century passenger car, and about taking in rarely seen, sweeping views of Narragansett Bay found along the line.

The OCNR has been a staple in downtown for over 30 years; ever since a small group of local railroad enthusiasts decided to form the National Railroad Foundation and Museum in 1978, thus saving the once bustling tracks from complete extinction.

Now, they're working to pass along their appreciation for the railway to a new generation. 

Jack Doyle has been on board with the OCNR since the beginning. Known as the Road Foreman of Engines, Doyle has welcomed an innumerable number of train enthusiasts to the Newport railway over the years.

But who are these elusive characters?

According to Doyle, the train enthusiast is a rare breed, often starting with a fascination of trains at an early age.

And it’s that fascination -- what Doyle calls a “sacred obligation” to keep that passion alive, which draws people to the OCNR.

Coming from all walks of life, volunteers range from adults who have worked with railroads in the past, to what Doyle describes as an incredibly dedicated group of young people, some of whom have moved on to careers in the industry.

And for an organization as small as the OCNR, it's those volunteers who might just hold the future for the island's rail line. 

According to Doyle, to start, young men (there have been no young lady volunteers, though they are welcome) who come on board as volunteers with the Old Colony are given the essential, but not skilled jobs, to start. From cleaning the windows, carrying coal, helping clear brush from the tracks, the youngsters learn the entry level aspects of railroading.

“We give them the basic training,” he says. 

From there, as the boys reach their late teens, they’re given the opportunity to start training and learning the ins-and-outs of being a conductor and engineer.