Michael D. Gitlin
April 24th, 2006, 12:37 AM
Good afternoon: During the above time frame, I was a student attending Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa. Starting in October of 1963, on Saturdays, I would spend most of the day(mid-morning until
late afternoon) at the Fairfield, Iowa Passenger Depot. I would not only
see the likes of the CB&Q "Zephyr" Passenger trains(California Zephyr,
Nebraska Zephyr), but high-priority manifests such as GI-68(Grand Island, Nebraska/UP-CB&Q Pool train to Chicago), and, it's
counterpart(CGI/CD-GI)Chicago to Grand Island; Chicago to Grand Island and Denver. Then there was LW-68(Lines West, sometimes
referred to as Lincoln, Nebraska/West. Special thanks to one Jack Howard(Fairfield, Iowa Agent/Ticket Agent), for showing me how a class one railroad works. Through Jack, I eventually wound up spending Saturday evenings in Ottumwa, Iowa(Otuumwa-Galesburg-Division) with one Leo Pettit. Like Jack Howard, Mr. Pettit and his
Chief Disptacher, Harold Davis, taught me what it was like to be
a train dispatcher. Once I was established with these gentlemen,
I would spend nearly 24 hours at the Fairfield depot, adding more
passenger and freight activity to my recollections. All of this
came to an end in January of 1967(5 months away from graduation),
when Parsons College announced that due to unforseen circumstances, they would not be granting any more college degrees. Seems the school was notorius for admitting high school dropouts and dropouts
from other colleges. I went to a different Junior College in Boston, Massachusetts for two years, before graduating with an Associate
Degree in Applied Science. I now reside in Seattle, WA., at an
assisted living community(Kidney Disease) after spending 21 years
in the Dallas FTW area. My hometown was Syracuse, NY. My railfanning experiences from those areas will be posted at a later date.
If anyone has any further inquiries about my days observing CB&Q in Fairfield and Ottumwa, please advise. Thank you very kindly.
Sincerely,
Michael D. Gitlin
late afternoon) at the Fairfield, Iowa Passenger Depot. I would not only
see the likes of the CB&Q "Zephyr" Passenger trains(California Zephyr,
Nebraska Zephyr), but high-priority manifests such as GI-68(Grand Island, Nebraska/UP-CB&Q Pool train to Chicago), and, it's
counterpart(CGI/CD-GI)Chicago to Grand Island; Chicago to Grand Island and Denver. Then there was LW-68(Lines West, sometimes
referred to as Lincoln, Nebraska/West. Special thanks to one Jack Howard(Fairfield, Iowa Agent/Ticket Agent), for showing me how a class one railroad works. Through Jack, I eventually wound up spending Saturday evenings in Ottumwa, Iowa(Otuumwa-Galesburg-Division) with one Leo Pettit. Like Jack Howard, Mr. Pettit and his
Chief Disptacher, Harold Davis, taught me what it was like to be
a train dispatcher. Once I was established with these gentlemen,
I would spend nearly 24 hours at the Fairfield depot, adding more
passenger and freight activity to my recollections. All of this
came to an end in January of 1967(5 months away from graduation),
when Parsons College announced that due to unforseen circumstances, they would not be granting any more college degrees. Seems the school was notorius for admitting high school dropouts and dropouts
from other colleges. I went to a different Junior College in Boston, Massachusetts for two years, before graduating with an Associate
Degree in Applied Science. I now reside in Seattle, WA., at an
assisted living community(Kidney Disease) after spending 21 years
in the Dallas FTW area. My hometown was Syracuse, NY. My railfanning experiences from those areas will be posted at a later date.
If anyone has any further inquiries about my days observing CB&Q in Fairfield and Ottumwa, please advise. Thank you very kindly.
Sincerely,
Michael D. Gitlin