Re: My Grandfather was Henry Watkins Willis

Henry Willis was the senior conductor on the southern narrow gauge lines in 1941. He was the conductor on the last scheduled run of the Chili Line on Sept. 1, 1941. There were trains that operated into Santa Fe after that but they were part of the scrapping operations. The engineer was Charles Arnell, fireman Roy Brown and the extra brakeman was John Clark Legg. The unlisted crewman was probably W.T. ``Red'' Lewis, who usually worked with your grandfather.
David Henry ``Deadhead'' Hines was the conductor on the other Chili Line crew. A. (Alexander) H. Baskett was the engineer. Your grandfather's crew ran north that day while Deadhead Hines' crew didn't work.
Seniority lists show your grandfather still on the roster for a couple of years after the Chili Line run. He would have had to work out of Alamosa then so I wonder if he actually made any trips.
Engineer Arnell died within a year of the last run. Roy Brown lasted into the 1950s as an engineer. Lewis and Legg left the railroad shortly after the last run. Lewis was a conductor who gave up his seniority so the Chili Line trainman's job was a good fit for him.
According to seniority lists at the Colorado Railroad Museum your grandfather's brakeman's sonority date as a brakeman was 8-11-1890. He was promoted to conductor on 10-20-1897.