We have lost one of the Great Ones..
| October 23, 2014 06:29PM |
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It is with the greatest sadness that I can imagine, I report of the passing of Marty Fischer from injuries sustained in a car accident a couple of weeks ago.
Marty was a fixture on the C&TS from the mid-1970's until when she and her husband Russ Fischer moved to Williams, AZ in 1989. Marty began working as a Brakeman ("no, not brakeperson") - as she used to say in the mid- 1980's and began firing a couple of years later. In all my years on the narrow gauge I never anyone who could do a better job of keeping an engine hot and full of water - much to the dismay of some of her macho co-workers. When the time came she was promoted to engineer, and did a most excellent job at that too. While others had a hand in her training, I always considered Marty to be my best student, and was proud of all she accomplished. But she could be tough too. I recall at least a couple of times when she and I had to wrestle a heavy Nolan re-railing frog underneath the cylinders of an engine to rerail an errant pony truck.
She was great to work with, always had a smile on her face (like below).
To this day, Mary is the only female to be a promoted engineer on the C&TS (or any of the former D&RGW NG).
I will miss her terribly.
photo by Dan Ranger
......always with a smile.
My deepest condolences to Russ and their 2 daughters.
I've got some great stories from when Marty and I were working together.
I'll share them with you in the future. Right now, this a bit much for me to deal with.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2014 06:56PM by Earl.
Marty was a fixture on the C&TS from the mid-1970's until when she and her husband Russ Fischer moved to Williams, AZ in 1989. Marty began working as a Brakeman ("no, not brakeperson") - as she used to say in the mid- 1980's and began firing a couple of years later. In all my years on the narrow gauge I never anyone who could do a better job of keeping an engine hot and full of water - much to the dismay of some of her macho co-workers. When the time came she was promoted to engineer, and did a most excellent job at that too. While others had a hand in her training, I always considered Marty to be my best student, and was proud of all she accomplished. But she could be tough too. I recall at least a couple of times when she and I had to wrestle a heavy Nolan re-railing frog underneath the cylinders of an engine to rerail an errant pony truck.
She was great to work with, always had a smile on her face (like below).
To this day, Mary is the only female to be a promoted engineer on the C&TS (or any of the former D&RGW NG).
I will miss her terribly.
photo by Dan Ranger......always with a smile.
My deepest condolences to Russ and their 2 daughters.
I've got some great stories from when Marty and I were working together.
I'll share them with you in the future. Right now, this a bit much for me to deal with.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2014 06:56PM by Earl.
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
The NGDF was started by Don Richter and is currently operated in his memory by Nathan Holmes and others. Others who have contributed to the upkeep of this board are (in no particular order): Charles McCandless, Everett Lueck, Ted Wilton, Cole Adams, James Bane, John Moellmer, Jon Bentz, Linn Moedinger, lloyd lehrer, Rod Jensen, John Craft, Steven Forney, Herb Kelsey, Bill Ramaley, Russ Sperry (El Russo Loco), Josh McNeal, John West, Jim Armstrong, Bob Bergstrom, Greg Scholl, Blake Forbes Doug van Veelen and Mark Fuller.