Thanks for sharing the sad news, Ted. I feared this day was coming sooner than later because John didn't sound well the last time we spoke.

I want everyone to know John's impact on the California Timetable. He was instrumental in tracking down radio channels used on numerous Northern California branchlines and shortline railroads. The Class 1 railroads didn't always specify radio channels for the branchlines, and while educated guesses were possible, some of the oldhead crews liked to "hide" on radio channels of their own choosing or rely almost exclusively on hand signals.

That's where John came in and saved the day. He was very persistent in this endeavor, sometimes making multiple trips until he succeeded in finding the radio channel. And he would sometimes repeat the process all over again in successive years, just to be sure the data was still valid.

The only thing we ever "argued" about was his insistence on paying for copies of the California Timetable. I couldn't accept his money knowing he had spent 50+ hours some years, even while sick, devoted exclusively to verifying radio frequencies. One year at Winterail, in lieu of paying me for the timetables, he finally agreed to donate the cash to a museum group instead. Another time, he tried to order copies online thinking I would be forced to accept the money. Needless to say, I reversed those credit card charges right away.

Farewell John. We will miss you dearly.



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