Meet the woman behind Dollywood’s steam trains

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The sounds of the coal-fired trains are an iconic feature of Dollywood. For the first time ever, a woman is in the driver’s seat.

Julie Collins, Dollywood’s first female engineer, is about to start her eighth season and takes a lot of pride in getting Dollywood’s two steam trains up and running for the season.

“In the park’s history ever, there’s never been another so I’m pretty proud of that,” Collins said.

Dollywood has two trains: 80-year-old No. 192, or Klondike Katie, was built in 1943, and 85-year-old No. 70, otherwise known as Cinderella, was built in 1938. Collins knows the trains well.

“This one here [No. 70] is a little fatter and a little bit shorter, and she eats a little more than 192 does,” she said. “She’s hungry. She’s a big girl.”

It’s a deep love that she’s developed for both engines; however, it is not her first love.

Collins built a decade caring for patients in the medical field as a neurodiagnostic technologist.

“It was a completely different life and lifestyle,” she said.

However, Collins wanted something more fun. “I want to work somewhere fun,” she said. “I walked right down the train, and I said, ‘I am in love with this giant piece of metal.’”

Collins started training as a fireman and then enrolled in the engineer program. “I fell in love with it,” she said.

Both trains served in the US Army during World War II and look exactly the same. In fact, most of the parts to keep the rare trains up and running are made right on site by the Dollywood team.

“You don’t see a lot of coal-fired steam trains anymore. They are pretty rare. These two that we run here are one of a handful around,” Collins said.

The trains and their tracks need around-the-clock maintenance, which Collins and her team are responsible for.

On a busy day, the trains run 10 to 13 five-mile loops around the park.

“To fire one up from a cold engine, it’ll take about three days,” Collins said.

It’s a true labor of love, sometimes more labor and sometimes more love.

“It’s a love/hate relationship,” Collins said.

Collin said that passion is the most important. “You have to have the passion and the love for it, and it all falls into place after that,” she said.

The bells and whistles of these old trains making new memories for millions of guests are worth it.

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