Sad to report that Steve Lee has passed. Long time leader of the UP heritage and steam program…here’s the report copied from FB
It is with great sadness that we share the news, from Steve Lee’s friend and former colleague Dave Varilek, that Steve passed away early this morning, October 25th.

Steve leaves behind a lasting legacy in the preservation community, along with countless friendships forged through his work and dedication over the years. His contributions and the impact he made on so many will not be forgotten.

We share this news with heavy hearts and extend our deepest condolences to the Lee family and all who knew and loved Steve. We respectfully ask that the family be given privacy and space to grieve during this difficult time.

At this time, no services or memorials are planned.

Highball Steve. You gave us so many good memories.

I'll always remember a particular comment that Steve once made.

A bunch of us were sitting at a table with him in Pendleton, OR one 1989 afternoon after 844 took a long train up the Columbia from Portland.

"Anybody catch how fast we were dong today?" I replied that the I saw several miles at 76 mph. He smiled and said "You know, that diesel behind us wasn't making a watt of power."

He was a true steam man.

I considered Steve one of the more remarkable people I got to work with.

He and I shared a boss, Ike Evans. I had him 'before' he was a railroader, suffered the consequences, and learned a lot of tricks in dealing with him. Not easy.

Later, when he went to UP and became 'President', I contacted Steve about dealing with his new boss and what he was in for.
Steve absolutely played him with the toolbox I supplied. It was one of the reasons that the steam program survived when the UP logistics department got thrown to the dogs. We became friends over the years with that episode.

I was so honored when HRA had their conference in Connecticut and Steve suddenly appeared (post retirement and guest of honor) and sat down beside me at the banquet, old times, good friend.

Unforgettable guy.

God has been good to me. He's allowed me to stay around and head into my late 80s.
However one of the drawbacks is losing old friends and in my case, my whole family.
I have lost some close friends over the last decade. Joe Collias, Frank Willis, and several 1522 members.
Of course the latest is Steve. I'm sure Lynn Nystrom and him are laughing it up together now.
I called Steve in 1988 and introduced myself when I was made Chief Mechanical Officer and we had a long conversation, had some laughs as we both have a wacky sense of humor.

Steve was a tremendous help to our organization. If not for him, we would have had a rough time negotiating with the UP to go from the Museum of Transportation to downtown St. Louis or staging for excursions. All we needed to do was notify the UP, give them a time and they would send a pilot crew to the MOT or furnish one when we needed to return to the Museum.

He served on our Board of Directors. Gave good information and advice.

I didn't meet him in person until June 1990 when the NRHS convention was in St. Louis. I rode the 844 on their excursion to get over the jitters because I was going to be engineer on 1522's trip, my "shift" was eastbound out of Newburg. He gave me some pointers during the 844 trip.

We were always welcome on any UP steam trip and 3 of us spent a lot of time firing, mostly 3985, couple of us got a little seat time on the doubleheader coming back from Sacramento.
I've always treasured our friendship and over the years we had some good times.

The community has lost one of the "good guys" and he will be missed.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. R.I.P. Steve

Steve and I worked together off and on professionally over the years. Of course, since I was an FRA man, I wasn't his most favorite person, but he was always professional. I got to know him more during and after the 844 incident at "RailFair 99" in Sacramento. Later, I worked with him and his team during annual inspections of both UP 844 and UP 3985.

He should also be remembered as one of the charter members of the original "Engineering Standards Committee" that worked with recommendations to FRA and the eventual revision of FRA Steam Regulations. His knowledge and experience was instrumental in the eventual revision of 49 CFR Part 230 in one of the very first negotiated rule makings at FRA via the Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC).

Rest in Peace Steve...you made a difference!

Mike Ramsey.

In 1993, Steamtown did a "Railphoto" weekend. Steve Lee was the banquet speaker. The speech was epic-it was right after 3985 visited the Clinchfield and Steve had stories to tell. If anyone has a video of the speech, now's the time to post it.

BH