Goodbye Tom
On September 18, 1990, I took this shot on the west side of Oconomowoc of an eastbound freight running wrong main past a ballast train just after noon that day. In the photo, Tom Farence (right) stands alongside Ron Kaminen on Soo 2407 with Art Danz standing on the concrete remains of Chaffee Road Bridge. All have given a run-by inspection and have waived goodbye and safe travels to the conductor in Soo caboose #93.
I got to know Tom not in the typical face to face setting, but through email via good friend Dan Longley who knew Tom personally. Tom first helped me with an article I was writing on the Milwaukee Road's September 1968 wreck of the XL Special, and more recently as I work on a new one.
He remembered a stunning amount of details on the XL wreck, having been directly connected to it as he was assigned to bring a crane in to assist with clean-up. To no one's surprise, Tom had his camera in hand that day and shared with me some black and white images he took when he arrived.
As we emailed back and forth, it struck me; at 50 years removed from the 1968 wreck, his memory was simply amazing....names, details, times, places, even things that happened afterwards. His recollections brought a whole new level of storyline depth to my article of which I was ever so grateful.
So, like others here, I wish condolences to Tom's family and pray they find peace in this time of sadness.
Glad to have known you Tom, even if it was in a non-traditional way. Thanks for the memories (literally), the stories, and of course the photography that brought alive the inside workings of Milwaukee Road to the rest of us. Goodbye, Godspeed and rest in peace.
Goodbye Tom
On September 18, 1990, I took this shot on the west side of Oconomowoc of an eastbound freight running wrong main past a ballast train just after noon that day. In the photo, Tom Farence (right) stands alongside Ron Kaminen on Soo 2407 with Art Danz standing on the concrete remains of Chaffee Road Bridge. All have given a run-by inspection and have waived goodbye and safe travels to the conductor in Soo caboose #93.
I got to know Tom not in the typical face to face setting, but through email via good friend Dan Longley who knew Tom personally. Tom first helped me with an article I was writing on the Milwaukee Road's September 1968 wreck of the XL Special, and more recently as I work on a new one.
He remembered a stunning amount of details on the XL wreck, having been directly connected to it as he was assigned to bring a crane in to assist with clean-up. To no one's surprise, Tom had his camera in hand that day and shared with me some black and white images he took when he arrived.
As we emailed back and forth, it struck me; at 50 years removed from the 1968 wreck, his memory was simply amazing....names, details, times, places, even things that happened afterwards. His recollections brought a whole new level of storyline depth to my article of which I was ever so grateful.
So, like others here, I wish condolences to Tom's family and pray they find peace in this time of sadness.
Glad to have known you Tom, even if it was in a non-traditional way. Thanks for the memories (literally), the stories, and of course the photography that brought alive the inside workings of Milwaukee Road to the rest of us. Goodbye, Godspeed and rest in peace.