Re: Rogers Whitaker memorial plaque at C&TS summit

Rogers' younger brother, Francis Whitaker, was a blacksmith; he made the plaque and chose Cumbres Pass for the memorial site.

Rogers Whitaker did indeed travel nearly 2.7 million miles on trains. This is an astounding number, particularly when one considers that this was done outside of his weekday job. To duplicate such a feat would require 50,000 miles a year for more than 50 years. The final tally is far from an estimate. All of the miles are meticulously documented and one of the final entries in his log book is from Princeton junction to Division Post on the PRR bringing the total to 2,618,355.4 If only the railroads had mileage award programs!

Under the pen name E.M. Frimbo, Rogers Whitaker, along with Tony Hiss, regularly published chronicles of his adventures in the New Yorker magazine. Those articles were compiled in a book that was originally published in 1974 when Frimbo had documented a mere 2.3 million miles. The later edition from 1997 includes stories from all 2.7 million miles of travel and the final chapter, entitled "Frimbo's Peak," documents Rogers' family placing the plaque on the tie at Cumbres Pass. They rode the train up the hill from Chama in 1981 and scattered Rogers' ashes at Cumbres. On the return trip from Osier, the plaque was installed just ahead of the locomotive. Kyle Railways employees later came back and bolted the plaque down.

Cumbres Pass was chosen because Rogers Whitaker loved riding the San Juan and was particularly fond of the $1.15 steak dinners. Legend among Docent circles has it that some have ridden the Cumbres and Toltec with Francis Whitaker though I was never so fortunate. I did have the pleasure of once riding with a gentleman who was in a railroad club with Rogers Whitaker.

If you are interested in the book, it is a good read. Just put "Frimbo" into the search engine at ABEbooks.com or at Amazon.com. Be sure to get the later edition published in 1997.

Thanks for the picture, Matthew!
Edit: clarity



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2008 01:35PM by Tom Farmer.