Richard F. Paseman, RIP
I received word today that a former co-worker and good friend of mine, Richard F. Paseman, passed away yesterday (DEC 23) of heart failure. Richard hired out on the Santa Fe in 1966 and worked his way through the ranks of the Trainmen and Enginemen's crafts, retiring as an Amtrak engineer on May 07, 2017 after completing a run on Amtrak # 3, the
SOUTHWEST CHIEF, from Kingman, AZ to Los Angeles, CA.
Here's the mention of his retirement seven years ago from the BLE newsletter. I just saw him a few weeks ago at a gathering of active and retired rails and spoke with him on the phone a few days ago.
Richard is survived by his wife Denise and son Chris, who has followed in his father's footsteps and is now also an Amtrak engineer.
Some of us rails kept our railfan interest subdued in the workplace and the two of us were humorously "outed" when we inadvertently ran across one another on an excursion on the Tijuana & Tecate Railway. There was a simultaneous,
"What are YOU doing here?" He brought his then-very-young son on that trip and that's how you get young people interested in becoming railroaders.
Rest in peace, Richard. It was a pleasure working with you and having you as a friend. Green signals and clear track all the way.
During his retirement, Richard managed to write two memoirs of his railroad career, and those books are available on Amazon:
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www.amazon.com]
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