New York is a city of 12 million people but with the loss of this one person, my friend, it suddenly feels very empty. Russ
Well, I'm a latecomer to this thread. Haven't been to trainboard for a couple of days. All I can say is that we've lost a GREAT HUMAN BEING. I shall miss him sorely. I have railfanned with Johnny many times. His enthusiasm never waned. He loved people and just made every effort to reach out and be in touch. I send my deepest condolences to Mary Kay and Kathleen. These are indeed dark days for them. God bless your soul, Johnny, my dear friend. I'll let you blow the whistle any time. Sadness and tears, Ed
Dear friends, I just received a call from Mary Kay. Johnny died peacefully around 8:30 on Thursday night, the 29th. She is sending notices to all in his address book. There will be a memorial mass on June 11. We are invited to attend. She is setting up a memorial fund that we may contribute to, if we desire. He will be cremated and she is bringing some of his ashes to Ohio to spread them at the places where loved watching trains. Mary Kay is so thoughtful. It really touches me that she is doing this. Thank you, Mary Kay. Johnny, may you have non-stop train watching in heaven. Peace and Love, Ed
Two more things about Johnny. He would have turned 47 this month. HE DIED TOO YOUNG. He survived the 9/11 attacks in '91. He was just 4 blocks from the Twin Towers when they came down. I'm grieving. Ed
Ed, I guess the best thing we can do is remember the good times we shared with Johnny. That picture you posted of him is very typical of johnny and a great reminder of his love for trains. I agree he was way to young to lose his life and it comes as such a shock to me not being that much younger myself.
not quite 47............and here I am, 47 years of age. Sobering thought. That pic of Johnny standing in front of the NYC diesel (E-unit?) will be the one I'll remember when someone mentions his name. I've never met him here, but someday I hope to when I'm called Home.
Here is another pic of my friend and two of our other friends that have passed. May they never be forgotten...... Russ
Thiss was posted by Larry Gilbert in the cattle car so I have reposted here His wife has sent the following e-mail to all of his friends that he had in his e-mail address mailbox. "To all our family, to all our friends and to all of John's fellow railfans... It is with a broken heart that I am writing, on behalf of Kathleen and myself, to tell you that sadly, tragically and unbelievably John (Johnny Trains) died on Thursday April 29 at St. Luke's Hospital from complications following the placement of a stent in his heart. We are having a Memorial Mass for John on Friday June 11th at 11am at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament 152 West 71st Street (between Broadway & Columbus) There will be a reception to follow, which we are still in the process of planning, and to which everyone is invited. If you would like to make a charitable donation in John's memory, please send it to: Friends of NY Transit Museum 130 Livingston Street 9th Floor Brooklyn NY 11201 Please forward this to anyone whose name I might have missed. If anyone is planning to attend the Memorial and is traveling by plane, please call or email me to get the information you need to receive a bereavement flight discount. John loved you all. Mary Kay Donnelly Niegocki"
I love you John and will always have an angel looking over me. I am crying so hard now I will miss you my sweet sweet friend. God Bless You and your family and MAY HE REST IN PEACE IN THE LOVE OF GOD AND HIS HOLY ANGLES. Take care my sweet brother i will miss you terribly. With Love, Your Sis
As each day goes by I can't help but notice that posts from TrainBoard members are coming in from all around the world. This just goes to show both how much JT impacted our lives as well as how railfaning is truly the #1 hobby that brings people from all walks of life together. Thank You JT for always keeping us safe and may your work never be forgotten. Your Friend, Darren E. Hadley Centennial, Colorado
I just chatted with Lady Sunshine. She says, "Now we have a railfan as our guardian angel in heaven." Amen !!!!! Johnny lives forever in the hearts of many, many throughout the world. Darren said it best. "THANK YOU JT for always keeping us safe and may your work never be forgotten". We shall never forget Johnny. God bless his memory and may God bless Mary Kay and Kathleen. Peace, Ed
I think Darren H says it best 2 posts above this... he touched a lot of people. Would the board owners/Mods consider a memorial page for this site linked off the main page? Few other forums/boards Im on have these pages, not one that people can add messages to, but just a basic page, with a bit of history on the person and some photos.. It could be linked to this thread for people to mention things about JT, and maybe 5-10 photos of the man, EG the E8 one(would be my #1 for the page) and a few more submitted by members, and selected by the mods.. Just a thought. Never personally knew JT, but my condolences to johnny's family and all that miss him. Take care people, try and remember the good times and things...
In case they decide not to, I already have, over at photo-addicts.com (bear with me if the site is a little slow to load.. I've been having problems with my upstream provider). I put it up the day I heard he had left us. His gallery is at http://www.photo-addicts.com/johnny_trains and the memorial thread is at http://www.photo-addicts.com/community/index.php?board=46;action=display;threadid=1558 We're encouraging anyone who has any pictures of his they liked, or any pictures of/with him, or any stories about him or any adventures, to post them there. All pictures will be added to the gallery, with attribution. I've enabled guest posting over there, for the next few weeks, just for this purpose, so nobody will have to deal with the hassle of registering to be able to post something. JT was a hell of a guy, and I had alot of respect for the person he was. He deserves to have his memory carried on. I'm gonna do my part. -Gordon
Dear friends, I'm posting a tribute to Johnny Trains from Steve Ellman. Steve is a NYC policeman, one of New York's finest. He works for the NYPD and used to be assigned to the NYC Comptroller's security detail. John was one of the NYC Comptroller's drivers and they were fast friends ever since that time. Steve, many thanks for this heartfelt tribute to Johnny Trains. With heavy heart, Ed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am sure this picture brought Johnny alot of joy...the Killer Roastbeef sandwich (and the oblitory 2 liter of coke...which appears in the next picture)... Here I haven't been around to often, too busy, too this, too that, not here. It leaves a hole in me...
I've been away for 4 days so I am just reading this. I am sorry to hear of Johnny's passing. He was a great contributor to the site and I know that people really enjoyed his postings. We will certainly miss him. As most people will remember, Don Brown recently passed away and we turned the colors of the site to a gray scheme for a week. We would (will) certainly do the same in memory of Johnny. Since that time, due to a software change, I cannot use that same template to change the colors - so I will have to build a new one. That takes some time and is not something that can be done right now but I will try to do that in the next day or so. Charlie
I first met John in person at Deshler, OH. During a Trainboard Gathering. These are images that I remember of John. Also, I recall fondly his Ms' Zucchini Bread. [ 03. May 2004, 14:21: Message edited by: Sir_Prize ]
