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I never got meet my late grandfather he passed away when my dad was 12 this his favorite memory of him:

With Father's Day nearly upon us I can't help but to feel it is fitting to start a thread for those of us who had fathers who are or were railroaders and/or railfans.

I was only 12 when I lost my Dad but in the few years that I had him in my life he helped to create an interest in trains that has lasted for 52 years.

Though memories are at times few I can remember times when he would take me to the local Five and Dime to get an ice cream cone and then we would head down to the Espee depot in Palmdale, Ca., to visit both his friend who was the agent and to see what trains we could see.

One of the memories I have is seeing a Black Widow EMD SD9 that usually powered the wrecker train that would come into town ever so often and how he would walk around the train with me as it sit, resting for the day. And I remember the wonder I expressed when the San Joaquin Daylight started to change its colors from the red and orange to silver and red that I would later come to love, wondering "What is that train, Daddy?" because I was too young to understand why it was different. We paced that train for a few miles from Lancaster to Palmdale with the "flashing" light on the observation car shining brightly.

Even though, before the end, he was very sick we continued to share railfan memories... memories like those that I have been able to instill in my precious daughter Teshanna, who became hooked on red Southern cabooses at the age of around 6 months.

He was my Father, my Dad, my Friend and my Hero. Even now I miss him deeply. But I am thankful to God for these memories... and the fact that he was a railroader as well as a railfan, working for the Wabash-controlled Detroit Terminal for a short time before moving with his family to southern California.

"Thanks, Daddy... for all you did, and especially so for giving me the gift of trains, both real and modeled!!!"

 


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