Gordon's very first railroad publication

Buried in my files is an old yellowed copy of the The Daily Californian, the student newspaper at U.C. Berkeley, dated Friday, February 26, 1960. It contains what is probably Gordon's very first go at writing some railroad history. Gordon and I met when we both worked at the Daily Cal. Great fun writing news, helping put it all together each night on hot lead Linotype machines (almost as interesting as steam engines), and chasing the women on the staff. Somewhere along the line we figured out we also shared an interest in steam railroading, and that a trip to Durango would be an appropriate way to spend the semester break. Another student friend Rey Barraza joined us and off we went to Durango in my '52 Ford. After a few days chasing the narrow gauge and returning to school, Gordon somehow convinced the powers that be that a story about the narrow gauge would be of interest to our readers. The fact that it was buried on page ten probably reflects some skepticism, but I also got one of my pix attached to the story.







Ah the good old days.

JBWX