Followers of railroading in the Deep South — especially in Louisiana and Mississippi — are mourning the loss of rail historian Louis Saillard, a Louisiana native who died unexpectedly Nov. 13 at age 75. A prolific writer and photographer, Saillard wrote several articles for Trains and Railfan magazines and had numerous picture credits in a […]
MORGAN, Minn. — If you’ve attended a railroad hobby show or flea market in the Midwest in the past few decades, you couldn’t help but see the signs and tables for Perry’s Hobbies. Based in tiny Morgan, Minn., southwest of the Twin Cities, owner Perry Becker established the business in 1966. Becker, 90, died of […]
SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Jerry Angier, a prominent New England-based railroad preservationist and author, primarily involving the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad (BAR), died June 19 at his home near Portland, Maine. He was 82. Born March 1, 1942, in Washington, D.C., Gilman “Jerry” Angier Jr., attended school in Providence, R.I., summered with his family in Hyannis […]
PAYSON, Ariz. — Logan “Stan” Garner, rail enthusiast, actor, and supplier of railroad equipment to the entertainment industry, died May 20 in Arizona at the age of 83. Born in Pasadena, Calif., Garner gained initial fame for being a co-founder in 1967 of Short Line Enterprises, where discarded railroad equipment, mostly from Hollywood movie studios, […]
Anyone who lived through the late 1960s and cared about railroading knew that the future of the intercity passenger train was bleak, so long as it was in the hands of private companies mostly interested in exclusively hauling freight. After more than a decade’s worth of relentless abandonment and downgrading of service, it seemed only […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Ranking Member of its Railroad, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, died Wednesday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced. He was 65. NorthJersey.com reports he had been hospitalized since suffering a heart attack from diabetes complications on April […]
ISHPEMING, Mich. — Clint Jones, president of the family-owned Mineral Range Railroad based in Ishpeming, died of health complications at Marquette General Hospital in Marquette, Mich., on April 19, 2024. He was 79. Son Chris Jones told Trains News Wire in a phone interview that he and his brother Pete will continue business as usual […]
Carl Jensen, manager of the Norfolk Southern Steam Program from 1986 to 1994, died on March 25, 2024, in Roanoke, Va. He was 87. His leadership was instrumental in guiding the program, and the travels of locomotives Nos. 611 and 1218, almost to its end. He also had a lengthy association with the National Railway […]
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — Anyone who doubts that aviation and railroading are often a shared affinity should consider the life of Mallory Hope Ferrell, a skilled photographer and writer, decorated military and commercial pilot, and the author of at least 21 railroad books, mostly concerned with narrow-gauge and shortline steam railroads. Lt. Colonel Mallory Hope […]
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Wendell J. Dillinger, 93, lifelong railroader and founder and CEO of the 7-mile-long Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad in Central Pennsylvania, died Dec. 10. During his 47 years of operating the line, he ran diesel freight and passenger trains, acquired and restored to service ex-Canadian National Railways 2-6-0 steam locomotive No. 91, and […]
Greg Scholl, who turned his lifelong interest in trains into a major video production business, died Dec. 9, 2023, after a long illness. He was 72. His company, Greg Scholl Video Productions, is one of the last independent video producers, having produced more than 250 titles as he traveled North America in search of steam […]
It is possible that no railroad author was as prolific, nor as wide-ranging in his interests, as H. Roger Grant. “If there is a chapter of railroad history that this scholar hasn’t researched, we don’t know what it is,” wrote Trains Editor Jim Wrinn in the magazine’s 75th anniversary issue in November 2015. “Grant makes […]
