Local resident R. Merle Funston described how he entertained visitors to his farm a half-mile north of the tunnel. "When visitors came to our house on Sunday afternoons, I would take them down to the fan house. This was a lonely place, so the fan operators were glad to have company and were glad to explain how the fan worked. If no trains were due, they would start the fan for us, and to demonstrate would throw a Sears Roebuck Catalog into the fan. It came out looking just like snow."
On occasion, the diesel engine that powered the fan failed to start causing considerable discomfort for the train crews. As a result, train crews often left an unhappy message with the dispatcher at either Stockton or Fairground Yard informing them that the fan did not operate. Although they were not always at fault, the train crews usually scorned the fan house operators.