Hi all,
The Saturday edition of our local newspaper, The LaSalle/Peru News Tribune
has an article entitled "Memories Tie Former Rail Men", with a couple of
photos, on page A-4. The length precludes me from typing in the entire
article as I don't have a scanner. Maybe Matt Phalen of Wyanet, who is on
this list, could scan and send it to the list if he is able.
Anyway, the article talks about former Burlington employees who are mostly
retired but meet each month at the Coffee Club Restaurant in Princeton, IL
for coffee, breakfast, and a bull session about the old days. The article
says in part, "They greet one another as each arrives from communities in
Bureau and La Salle counties and from Galesburg, Knoxville, Colona,
Sterling and Oswego. Seventeen men showed up in April and more tables had
to be added so they could share rail stories."
I thought some list members may recognize a name or two from the past
here. The article mentions Eugene [Geno] Ballatti of Princeton, John
Maller of Princeton, Bob Oloffson of Wyanet, Carl Finkle of Earlville, Ken
Catton of Wyanet, Harold Stone of Princeton, Gerald Haekness of Knoxville,
Jerry Ewalt of Galesburg, Conrad Fredrickson of Colona, Dean Yelm of
Princeton, Eldon Gleason, Ferris Wright of Malden, Wally Rohlik of
Sterling, Arley Jensen of Walnut, William Hill of Earlville, and Mike
Foster who has worked for BN(SF) for 26 years and is currently on
disability. Mister Ballatti and Mister Haekness are featured in one of the
photos while the other is a shot of the group seated at table.
Maybe Bob Oloffson, who is a member of the Society, but not the list due to
his not having web capabilities, could sneak in a tape recorder <g> as the
memories and stories of this collection of ex-railroadmen must be truly
awesome to hear.
Also, in the same issue is a separate article on the modeling of the
downtown and rail lines in Mendota on display at the Union Railroad Museum
and Depot, and the Cherry Mine model on display at the Cherry library, as
modeled by Ray Tutaj, being featured in Model Railroading magazine
recently. Many of you will recall these two excellent modeling endeavors,
and Ray, from the recent Society spring meet held in Mendota.
Hope this brings back some pleasant memories for some of the more
"seasoned" member on the list.
Paul Kossart - Peru, Illinois, USA
BRHS, TP&WHS, La Salle & Bureau County Model Railroad Club
Proto-Freelancing The CB&Q Illiniwek River Branch in HO in the 1960's...
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"Serving Agriculture and Industry in the Illiniwek River Valley since 1904."
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