Re: John K' s post "The rest of the story -Did you marry her?" . The answer is yes. Helen and I were together for 32 years until cancer took her life in 2000. So I will continue the story. But first some background. Helen was the only girl I knew at New Mexico State who also liked my passions - Hiking, Climbing, and Chasing the Narrow Gauge. She was no stranger to the narrow gauge as seen here in August 1967 in Silverton.
And she was no stranger to 497, seen here in Durango with one of the friendly Durango railroaders (the girl on the right side the cab was Fawziah, an exchange student from Pakistan)
She also enjoyed carriage rides in Silverton with one of the Silverton locals
And then she also enjoyed hiking in the mountains, as seen here on our very first hike - going to the summit of 12,003 ft. Sierra Blanca in New Mexico's Sacramento Mountains in the spring of 1967
But back to January 1968 - Helen received her bachelor's degree in January 1968, and Carolyn and I took Union Pacific's PORTLAND ROSE from Hinkle, OR to Pocatello, ID, rented a car and picked her up in Logan, Utah where she was visiting her sister at Utah State on the way north. We returned on the PORTLAND ROSE to Hinkle and made the 90 minute drive to Richland. The miles on the PORTLAND ROSE would only be the first of the more than 17,395 miles she rode by train in 1968, most of them on Northern Pacific's MAINSTREETER, seen here in Spokane ( We had gotten off the MAINSTREETER and were getting ready to walk to the UP/MILW depot to catch the CITY OF HINKLE to Wallula)
(to be continued)
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2020 08:03PM by Olaf Rasmussen.