The “Usual Suspects”
Mileage Collecting Friends on Board

by David Ingles

At Chicago Union Station are Don Crimmin (l) and Mark Entrop. Don, of Oswego, Ill., a regular volunteer member of the Friends of the (MILW) 261 steam engine crew, was on High Iron’s crew on this AAPRCO special, serving in various capacities including waiter and mechanic. He’s retired from a career in Amtrak Operations. Mark, a mileage collector, is a longtime Amtrak employee in several positions, currently a Chicago Union Station redcap.

In the Caritas lounge before departure, from left: Nona Hill, Clark Johnson’s wife and the person who sees to all the details on these trips. Her labors are probably underappreciated. She is thumbing thru a copy of the new “Trains of the 1970s” CLASSIC TRAINS special edition I brought along, which was read by most if not all passengers in the next week; Clark and Nona live in Madison, Wis., when not on board the Caritas. Al Butler of the Boston area is in the middle; he’s retired from a career in “track’ (Roadmaster, etc.) for PC and Conrail. Taylor Johnson, right, one of Clark’s sons, was Trainmaster for the AAPRCO special and is very iinvolved with AAPRCO train operations.

Lounging with Clark Johnson (center) in the Caritas before departure are Sharon Hill, Nona’s sister from Madison, on the right, and Priscilla Johnson, Taylor’s wife, in between Sharon and Clark. Cimarron River attendant Rick Sprung of St. Louis is at left, pointing out something to a passenger. Rick is not “that stern” of a person.

West of Aurora, Nona Hill and Mike Rose, of Toledo, Ohio, relax in the “Turquoise Room.” When High Iron Travel doesn’t have a separate dining car along, a Caritas bedroom suite is not sold for sleeping but is kept open for extra seating beyond the 7 chairs used at the two tables to the rear of the Caritas’s galley, with the tongue-in-cheek name applied. In this case it’s appropriate as we are on the Southwest Chief, bound for Albuquerque on the old Santa Fe (well, once we leave Cameron, Ill., outside Galesburg).

John Harmon, left, of suburban Princeton, N.J., has a very high mileage total in numerous countries. Otto Dobnick of Waukesha, my travel companion this trip, “does not collect mileage,” as he tallies and records “routes,” not any numbers (quantity) of miles. The train now is in eastern Colorado on Friday morning, April 17.

Friday morning during the long stop at La Junta, Colo., car attendant Rick Sprung, photographed me; Reg Mitchell, of the D.C. Virginia suburbs; Bill Weibel, Nona Hill’s brother-in-law, and Phil Moser of Elgin, Ill., on the rear platform. We needed those jackets! Nona’s relatives rode out to Albuquerque with us, as the sleeping spaces were not all sold out until the special departed ABQ.

Joe Maloney (L) of the D.C. area, a mileage collector and active national NRHS official, and Chuck Weinstock of Pittsburgh, who flew out to ABQ to join us, enjoy riding backwards at a Caritas table east of Vaughtn, N.M, on the first day of the special, Sunday the 19th..

Being a Caritas veteran, John Harmon knows when to nab a seat ahead of the call for lunch!

Neal Payton, a BNSF employee (L), John Harmon, and Joe Maloney enjoy the scenery of eastern New Mexico. The yellow-lanyard I.D. tags signify we are AAPRCO members and thus allowed on the train but have not registered to attend any of the meetings in San Antonio. Neal's black-lanyard signifies he registered to attend the convention's meetings.

Tony Marciando of St. Louis is half-owner (with his brother Andy) of the Cimarron River, and flew out to get some key “Santa Fe” mileage. His mileage-collecting rides can be difficult, as the poor guy hasn’t retired yet, but it’s always nice to have a car owner along. Tony and the webmaster who creates these files, Mike Condren, attended the University of Missori at Rolla at the same time, and are, at heart, "Frisco men."

At one point Clark Johnson thought he’d be able to add another sleeper (sleeper-lounge), but ultimately train length (at San Antonio) prevented that, so he had to bump his last several passengers. Most found accommodations on other cars, and some came by to visit, including Dave Arthur (L), an Amtrak conductor out of L.A. on the Chief, and Art Bliss of Phoenix. That’s Al Butler again at right.

Clark Johnson, now in his mid-80s, doesn’t frequent the open back platform at speed much anymore, but when he’s on new mileage and the weather conditions and speed are right, he’s out there … as here east out of Clovis, N.M., in West Texas as we are bound for our overnight in Lubbock!

John Arbuckle, a hard-core Santa Fe fan from Hutchinson, Kans., flew to Lubbock to ride with us during Monday as far as Temple, closing a “crucial gap” he had between Lubbock and San Angelo Jct. Here he is (R) with Otto Dobnick as we await lunch west of Brownwood.

Cimarron River attendant Rick Sprung, of St. Louis (R), assists John Arbuckle in disembarking at BNSF’s fuel pad on Temple’s south side. John’s brother Tom, visiting in Austin, would drive up to pick him up. That’s Don Crimmin at lower left.

Another “bumped” visitor is Steve Morse, of Erie, Pa., a retired Presbyterian minister.

Bill Crawford of the Boston area (L) sits with Clark out of Houston on Tuesday morning. Bill was with us for just this one day, to pick up some needed Katy mileage. He is a veteran of High Iron trips, often serving as a “Lounge Lizard” (attendant) in the past. He’s retired from a career in GE management, and he's the one who coined "the usual suspects" label for the extended family of mileage collectors who regularly have ridden High Iron trips since Clark Johnson bought and had the Caritas rebuilt, in the mid-1980s.

Capt. Phil Bush of Washington, D.C. (no relation to the U.S. Presidents), at left, sits with Jim Fetchero, now a full-time Iowa Pacific Holdings employee in charge of passenger-car moves. Jim (sometimes “Fetch”) is a PV veteran, years ago managing and traveling with, including on a lot of High Iron trips, his local NRHS (Charlotte, NC) chapter’s ex-New Haven sleeper-lounge Pine Tree State, a car now retired from making trips. With our two cars all sold out, there was no room for Jim until our return out of San Antonio; we are now on the back of the Texas Eagle north of San Marcos. Jim says all he needs to function in his “mobile office” is his phone and computer. He does get to home his Charlotte condo once in a while.

Toward the end of a big trip, especially on a frequently ridden route like the Eagle’s, sleeping on old mileage overcomes us, as here with Clark (tho Joe seems to be alert). We have ALL been there! It was indeed a wonderful odyssey.

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