To Mr. Jacobson and the OC Crew-

I know that this may not be the place, but I feel lax in not saying something about the show that Jerry Jacobson and the ENTIRE Ohio Central crew gave us this past weekend. Everyone went out of their way to pull off one of the greatest photo shoots I've ever been to; so much so some of us almost forgot that we couldn't feel our fingers, toes, or, well, you get the idea. The snow was deep, the air brisk, and the smoke hung in the air for what seemed like days. Its enough to make any steam fan cry.

It always surprises to me learn in this rather cynical world (and lord knows I am as quilty as most) that the majority of the guys that do these trips for Ohio Central do this for the love of steam; they don't do it for the glory, and the only pay they get is what gets passed around in the hat and the gladness in there hearts for keeping a GTW U-3-b running 40 years after all but one of her brethren went to the great beyond. It is a true sign of who they are and the respect that they have for their employer and he has for them that they do so. Frankly it makes you wish you were one of them.

A special thanks to Jerry, too, for letting us tromp over his railroad, delaying his coal trains, just to hold for "one more cloud." For a kid who grew up watching this same 4-8-4 sit in Battle Creek, wondering what it really was like to hear or see her run, no amount of griping by fellow photographers over lack of light and neon-green houses could dispel the awe of seeing that beautiful monster pound down the High Iron at speed through snow. For maybe just a minute, one could put blinders on and imagine oneself along the GTW mainline in Capac, Emmett, or the hundreds of other small trackside towns in Michigan circa 1950, even though we were really on the Pennsy's Panhandle. Jerry Jacobson and his crew, now including John Rimmasch (god I hope I spelled your name right John) know how to spoil a railfan, and its spelled N-O-R-T-H-E-R-N.

The fact that my son got to see this same engine at the same age I was when I first saw mainline steam (Chessie Steam Special in Detroit) made it even the better. Thanks again to everyone at Ohio Central, and here's hoping for much more in 2004.

Sincerely,

T.J. (and Heather, T.W. & Phoebe) Gaffney

Port Huron Museum
tjgaffney@phmuseum.org

Hey TJ:

Why the heck didn't you introduce yourself???

And, the lime-green house was pretty easy to crop out!!

Real nice black & white weather, eh? (steam engines are best in B&W--just like the old days of DPM's TRAINS magazine in the 50s and 60s)

Quite a reminder of MY younger days with 2102, 759, etc. It was worth the money, for sure. JJJ and the rest of the OHCR crew know how to do it properly. If any of you have thought about going to see their "show", don't hesitate, DO IT. The July RailFest in Dennison ought to be quite something.

HP

> To Mr. Jacobson and the OC Crew-

> I know that this may not be the place, but I
> feel lax in not saying something about the
> show that Jerry Jacobson and the ENTIRE Ohio
> Central crew gave us this past weekend.
> Everyone went out of their way to pull off
> one of the greatest photo shoots I've ever
> been to; so much so some of us almost forgot
> that we couldn't feel our fingers, toes, or,
> well, you get the idea. The snow was deep,
> the air brisk, and the smoke hung in the air
> for what seemed like days. Its enough to
> make any steam fan cry.

> It always surprises to me learn in this
> rather cynical world (and lord knows I am as
> quilty as most) that the majority of the
> guys that do these trips for Ohio Central do
> this for the love of steam; they don't do it
> for the glory, and the only pay they get is
> what gets passed around in the hat and the
> gladness in there hearts for keeping a GTW
> U-3-b running 40 years after all but one of
> her brethren went to the great beyond. It is
> a true sign of who they are and the respect
> that they have for their employer and he has
> for them that they do so. Frankly it makes
> you wish you were one of them.

> A special thanks to Jerry, too, for letting
> us tromp over his railroad, delaying his
> coal trains, just to hold for "one more
> cloud." For a kid who grew up watching
> this same 4-8-4 sit in Battle Creek,
> wondering what it really was like to hear or
> see her run, no amount of griping by fellow
> photographers over lack of light and
> neon-green houses could dispel the awe of
> seeing that beautiful monster pound down the
> High Iron at speed through snow. For maybe
> just a minute, one could put blinders on and
> imagine oneself along the GTW mainline in
> Capac, Emmett, or the hundreds of other
> small trackside towns in Michigan circa
> 1950, even though we were really on the
> Pennsy's Panhandle. Jerry Jacobson and his
> crew, now including John Rimmasch (god I
> hope I spelled your name right John) know
> how to spoil a railfan, and its spelled
> N-O-R-T-H-E-R-N.

> The fact that my son got to see this same
> engine at the same age I was when I first
> saw mainline steam (Chessie Steam Special in
> Detroit) made it even the better. Thanks
> again to everyone at Ohio Central, and
> here's hoping for much more in 2004.

> Sincerely,

> T.J. (and Heather, T.W. & Phoebe)
> Gaffney


hpincus@mindspring.com

International Small World departrment:

Wayne Laepple sent a link to a photo page of this event to a friend of his in Australia. It made the rounds down under, and a friend of mine from Oz just emailed the link back to me. I was thinking of sending it to Wayne just to close the circle......

Thanks John et al for boosting our national image.

dave

irondave@bellsouth.net