OPRRMS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lou Schuyler, retired SP Western Division
> engineer, passed away yesterday. He was in his
> mid-90's.
>
> He was the person most responsible for saving from
> abandonment SP's branch line (known variously as
> the Calistoga Branch, St. Helena Branch and Napa
> Branch) that is today's Napa Valley Railroad upon
> which the Napa Valley Wine Train operates. After
> retiring from SP, he became NVR's senior engineer
> and Road Foreman of Engines, until retiring from
> there a number of years ago.
>
> I frequently worked with Lou after my transfer to
> the Western Division in 1972, then helped Lou and
> Ralph Jachens (another ex-SP employee) before Wine
> Train operations started and they were getting the
> railroad's operating certification with the FRA.
>
> Lou was a charismatic person with lots of "old
> head" stories he liked to tell (including how he
> used to take his annual vacation in late
> November/early December so he could sell Christmas
> trees).
>
> In the Nineties when my girlfriend and I would
> ride the Wine Train, Lou would always insist that
> we ride in the cab on the return trip.
>
> R.I.P., Lou.

Nice guy! I salute you with a glass of Napa valley red wine. Green signals all the ..hiccup....way...Lou!