Wow that's a real shame. I had dealings with harry on 3 or 4 trips to Canada. Actually he was the engineer on the 6060 on the first trip it ran out of Toronto in 1973. I rode that and we were clipping along about 80 on the return trip. Also I chased a couple of trips in 1975 and 1976. We went into the roundhouse at Spadina Street the night before, and asked some guy if we could do night shots. I think it was actually Harry but I didn't know him at the time.
Fast forward to 1986 and we went to Jasper to shoot 6060 going to Steam Expo in Vancouver. Problem was it wasn't ready when we got there. Met Harry and they had a couple of paid people and the rest were mostly volunteers(Many were CN employees) working. After about 3 days shooting in the Roundhouse and VIA f-units in the area, my wife and I volunteered and were there over a week helping out. I shot video of some of the stuff(never released on DVD), and on one video Harry comments on how shiny the bell was. My wife Kathi had done that!!!
In 1992 we went back to Canada, to shoot diesels mostly, although we did do Mt Rainier on the way up there. I was in the Jasper yard and listening to a radio and a brakeman said "come ahead Harry". I spoke to the brakeman on the ground, and asked if it was Harry Home. Yes it was. A few minutes later he stopped and came to chat. He had us over to his house for breakfast the next morning with his wife and we had a daughter by then. He was always such a good guy, and loved the 6060. That morning he was taking a freight to Prince George, so we got a shot of him on the freight out on the line. When he saw us he had a big wave of the arm out the window.
In 1999 he was again cordial, and invited me to be in the cab when they lit the fire, and told me about the latest info on the engine, etc. He was a steam engineer in the late 1950's and actually helped pick out the engine(6060) from the dead line in Winnipeg around 1959-1960 I believe. I was just wondering about him the other day. He called me a couple of times as he had a relative in northern Ohio he would visit.
Thanks for letting me know, even though its sad news. He was one of a kind for sure!
Greg Scholl
PS The shot of the 6060 at night is on my website. There are also a couple of black and whites in there from 1986 as well. Here is the link
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www.gregschollvideo.com]
