So being today is my 60th birthday its time to pull the pin. After 40 and a half years of railroading it is time to move on to another adventure. Its been a great career. Have met numerous people that I have enjoyed working with. Have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn the different aspects of railroading. From running freight trains over 3 to 4% grades. To hauling 100 cars of logs over a railroad with double switch backs. To challenge of running out the on the mainline using train orders. Having to figure out running times. Thinking so how far can I go against the westbound coming at us. Something this generation of railroaders will never experience. There are the times I miss that. But nothing beats racing down the mainline with a passenger train going Mach 5 with your hair on fire. Well ok maybe going 79 MPH or until the overspeed starts to shriek at you. Out of the four railroads I have had the opportunity to work for my heart will always be back in McCloud. The McCloud River Railroad was a great place to start. A great town with terrific people. The railroaders there were always great to work with. They taught you so much. Even the grumpy ones. Learning to run a train there was eye opening. You learned to respect the grade very quickly. You can never forget the time spent with the Jordans the Piltzs the Bonnevilles. And the Johnsons. Great people. The year I spent working for the Oregon California & Eastern Railway was an experience. Some great people there as well. Thanks Merril Haberman for the good runs. Hauling train loads of logs over a railroad with a double switch back using first and second generation power. That was a great thing to say, I did that. After leaving there for the Burlington Northern that was when you really learn to railroad. Learning the different parts of the rule book that we used there.Where on a short line railroad some of those rules didnt apply at the time. Some awesome people there. Thanks Colleen Rambo-Garrett for letting me fire with you on the Midnite Goat. The past 27+ years here at Amtrak have been great. Got to run trains on so many different routes. From Redding, Ca to Vancouver BC. From Portland, Oregon to Minot, ND. Cant forget the Route of the Pioneer from Portland to Boise, ID. A lot of great scenery to gaze at as we cruised along the rails. My 6 years as a manager was interesting. Learned a lot about what goes on on the other side of the door. Thanks Rich Mason for the opportunity. Valerie Scnell thanks for all the help in CNOC. Running over the UP the past few years have met some great UP guys. Always waving or giving us a highball. A few of them I will miss harassing them about getting into the clear. After todays arrival of #14 into PDX it will be time to hand over the reverser to a younger engineer. Its their turn. Dennis Mclellan. Jason Cox, Jeff L Benson, Brent Anctil and many more engineers that has worked along side its been a pleasure. As Leia and I start our new adventure in life I want to thank my family for putting up with the lifestyle of a railroader. It been long and hard at times to deal with but it has been a fulfilling career. So my fellow co-workers its been great. Darin Bryan the trips to Ginos were the highlight of going to Klamath Falls. Thanks for the great trips and for being a great railroader. Just one last bit of info to the rest, remember to railroad first then answer the questions. Amtrak #14 Out!!
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:28:29 +0000
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