Re: Remembering Ernie . . .

And, Olaf -

As I reminded you on the phone a day or two ago, I will never forget the day I first met you and Ernie in late August, 1966.  I was on a camping / railfanning trip in S.W. Colorado with Max Power, my former roommate at Colorado College, and two of his high-school friends from Denver - Keith Kirby and Roger Calender (each of whom was later a president of the Rocky Club, in the early and mid-1990's, respectively) - and youse guys were sitting on the hillside above the S-Curves watching the first freight in several weeks fight the weeds and sharp curves . . .   IIRC, we had plenty of time to get acquainted, as the train would gain about ten feet at each attempt, spin out in the weeds (there had been a problem on the Farmington Branch, and no freights had run over Cumbres for several weeks, while the weeds had continued to grow), lay sand, back up & take slack, and try again . . .

Ernie and I must have exchanged addresses, as I remember getting a postcard from him every once in a while over the next couple of years — which is why I was there a year later for John Gruber's special (see 1967 moldy oldies at [ngdiscussion.net] et seq.), in late August 1968 (see [ngdiscussion.net] et seq) and for the first week of existence of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad in 1970 (see [ngdiscussion.net]).  I was teaching high school in those days, and would have missed all three of the above runs if I had come to Colorado as usual in early August instead of pushing my vacation to the last possible day before heading home, which – thanks to Ernie's timely notes – I was able to do.

We stayed in touch over the years, and it was Ernie's fastidious records of the names of all those who contributed to the rescue and resurrection of the Narrow Gauge Over Cumbres in 1969-70 that made it possible to contact as many as we did and gather them together in late August of 2010 to celebrate the 40th Birthday of the railroad.  Of all those who were able to be there in 2010, Ernie was the one person whom I felt certain would return for the 50th Birthday in 2020.  I still can't believe he's gone.

- Russ



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2018 01:03PM by Russo Loco.