The news that I have resigned as editor of the BRHS Burlington Bulletin has
recently been announced by BRHS President Gene Tacey, and that is as it
should be, as my resignation is certainly not a secret, nor should it be. I
would, however, like to clarify the situation.
After serving as associate editor of Bulletin No. 1 under Lee Hastman
(recently deceased, sadly), I served as Bulletin editor for 31 years. And
that, it seems to me, is plenty of time for any one individual to be at the
controls of a publication. The past several years have seen the publication
of just one Bulletin -- none in the past two years -- and that is no one's
fault but mine; I have simply not been able to get one put together, for a
variety of reasons. I had asked the board some time ago to be relieved of
the task of laying out the issues and putting the pages together, ready for
the printer, and the Aurora Line Elevation issue was in fact laid out by the
printer's personnel following basic instructions provided by me. That is
not really a workable way of proceeding, though, as in order for an
attractive, logical layout to be completed by someone with no knowledge of
railroads in general and the Burlington in particular, such detailed
directions would have to be provided that I might as well continue to do the
layout.
Dave Lotz, who already does the layout and page make-up for the Zephyr,
kindly agreed to do the same for the next couple of Bulletins, until the
board can find a suitable individual to take on the task on a regular basis.
Dave and I worked quite well together in assembling the massive issue on
Burlington SD7s, 9s and 24s, and this was certainly fitting, as we are the
two who produced the text for the issue. Dave did a great job, and an issue
of something over 180 pages was the result. The board did not feel it was
financially feasible for the BRHS to undertake publication of such a large
issue at this time, and I was asked to split it into two issues. Though I
was strongly opposed to splitting the material, the decision to do so is
rightfully the board's, and I have complied with their wishes. Dave and I
have made the necessary changes, and Bulletin No. 47 will be an 88-page
issue covering the acquisition of the the SDs, while Bulletin No. 48 will
cover their service lives, modifications and subsequent use by successors
Burlington Northern and BNSF. Included in this second section will be
complete rosters and Burlington paint scheme data, the latter expertly
produced by member Charlie Vlk. No. 48 will presumably follow No. 47 by
several months.
It is certainly not my intention to leave the BRHS in the lurch, and I have
already completed everything except the page make-up for Bulletin No. 49,
which will be a 72-page issue dealing with the joint Burlington-Milwaukee
Road subsidiary the Davenport, Rock Island & Northwestern, or DRI Line.
Dave will also put together the pages of this issue for submission to the
printer. Thus there is enough material on hand to take the society well
into next year, at least.
Further, I do not wish to quit providing articles of all sorts for the
Bulletin, as I have a very substantial backlog of articles now in various
stages of preparation. If the new editor is willing, I can continue to
provide Bulletin features for years to come. I have no intention of
completely abandoning to Bulletin, and I hope to be of continued service to
the new editor well into the future.
So rest easy; my decision to step down as editor is not the big deal that
some would make of it.
Hol Wagner
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