All,
I’m going to thank mine today for starting me off right. Though things are rough for me today, I’ve got hope from his 92 years of experience. And when we talk today, it’s like we have never stopped talking…we just start from where we left off. When he’s gone we’ll still be talking because his (PRR-RDG-WWII troop train stories) are stored here.
He’d be really annoyed at this, but Heaven isn’t something we strive for over a lifetime but it is the things we do every day.
Not a railfan himself but my dad knew that I was. When we moved to defiance he had a house close to school and close to the tracks.Thanks dad.
stay safe
joe
Fifty years ago, when I was in high school, my Dad said “You ought to turn being a railfan into a career”. That was the first time I thought of railroads in this way. I was still thinking that way when I retired from the UP 45 years later after stops at the University of Tennessee, SOU, CRIP, CNW and Espee. If your Dad is still with you go roll one by the next time you see him. If he has passed over just go roll one by.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all you Dads here on the forums, and Erik, and all the other Dads who work at Kalmbach.
My dad passed in January in his 86th year. A WW II veteran of the Aleutian Campaign. Only combat fought on actual American soil.
Worked for a major aircraft manufacturer for 40 years before retiring in SE Washington. While working for Boeing he came in contact with the special railcars used to transport sections of the planes from Wichita. He gave the company a suggestion on ways to improve the transport tie down methods that were reusable instead of a one time throw away. For his idea he received a handsome check based on the amount of money his idea saved the compnay over the coming years.
Other than that the only contact he had with Railroads was a monthly trip to Vancouver to visit Mothers parents, and a yearly trip to Missouri to visit his family there. He always looked forward to his trips on the Empire Builder and the Internationals. And of course one kid became an avid Railfan from these trips. Thanks dad I love you and miss you very much.
Al - in - Stockton
I’ll call my Dad in a few minutes. The guy (quite properly) gave me the burden of being a Detroit Tigers fan in Reading. Loved it when the Phils traded Chico Fernandez to the Tiges. Chico and Felix Mantilla were my models as an aspiring infielder. I could hit, so they put me in left and center most of the time.
When the Tigers came east we’d sometimes catch them in Baltimore or New York. Yankee-Tiger rivalry was the hot ticket for a while and our team had won that LATE night in the Bronx. We were anxious to catch the last PRR clocker to Philly and our car. The 7th Avenue line gave us a fast and maddenly slow ride into new (alas) Penn Station. We raced to the platform and the train was pulling out!!! The conductor held the bottom dutch door open long enough for us to leap aboard. I mean we were running, Dad tugging my hand. It is one of the most memorable things in our shared lives.
Everything that they are saying today about Tim Russert’s life seem to apply to my Dad, he even survived the daggone Detroit Jesuits. My Augies were less physical.
Forgive me Father for spilling a bit here…
RIX