Dr. Eugene L. Huddleston, known to Trains readers for his articles comparing the largest steam locomotives of several railroads, and for his work on subjects dealing with the Chesapeake & Ohio, passed away on Friday, April 22, at age 80.
He was co-author (with Phil Shuster and the late Al Staufer) of C&O Power, probably the first and still the most authoritative book on the subject. Probably a dozen other books carry Gene’s name as author or co-author.
He was the son of a C&O conductor, and brother of another C&O employee, so he was around during much of the mid-1940s to the early 1960s, taking pictures of C&O modern-steam and early-diesel subjects in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia (many of these pictures are now in the collection of the C&O Historical Society). Thanks to these connections, he was able to make sense for his readers out of the often complex operations of the coal shifters and other trains serving places like Huntington, Russell, Peach Creek, Cabin Creek Junction, Handley, Thurmond, Quinnimont, Hinton, and Clifton Forge. His attentions shifted to areas in Michigan and Indiana when he became Professor of American Thought and Language at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
His articles in the C&O Historical Newsletter (which I was editing in the 1970s) were often the inspiration for my explorations of the lines in West Virginia and Kentucky. He graciously gave me co-authoring credits for an article on Kenova, West Virginia, that appeared in Railfan Magazine. Back in 1973 he introduced me and my bride to the Grog Shop in