Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina added the title of "engineer" to his list of accomplishments when , he took the controls of the "Best Friend of Charleston" during the recent Railrode Daze Festival in, Branchville, S. C. With him are his wife, Nancy, and 2-year-old son, Paul, plus SR Control Engineer John Smith, Atlanta. The Best Friend is a replica of the first engine that provided regularly scheduled passenger service in the United States in 1830.