Past Tense!

Wow. It still hasn't really sunk in, but my time with Amtrak is over. After 38 and a half years, I retired last week!

The people who work(ed) for me, along with Nick, put together a wonderful retirement party for me. There were some really special people at the party, including Sarah Reeves, Sally Spoon, and John C. Plytnick.

The person who I known longest was John. I remember first meeting him at what is now known as the Western Railway Museum back in 1971, though we also would have met back in about 1968 on a special train to the opening of the Oroville Dam. In fact, it was John Plytnick who mentioned, back in October of 1972, that Amtrak was hiring. Though I didn't get the job I originally applied for, John's recommendation put me high on the list for future hires, and I was hired for the San Francisco Reservation Bureau in December 1972.

Sometimes we got ticket clerks working their days off at the Res Bureau. I remember the one time that Sarah Reeves came over to work with us. She began with the Southern Pacific, and came over to Amtrak. After the Res Bureau closed I worked with Sarah at the Oakland 16th Street Station, first while she was a ticket clerk. Later Sarah became a Station Supervisor and we worked together often. Over the years Sarah went into and out of management, finally spending many years as Agent at Oakland Jack London. She ended her career, though, while working as an Operations Center Representative at Oakland Operations. So I worked for her, and she worked for me!

Sally Spoon started with Amtrak working at the Sales Office. This was down the hall from the Res Bureau in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. That was long before Chuck Spoon, back when she was Sally Adler. Sally and I worked together in many places over the years. Just before I left ticketing for the Operations Center I worked with Sally in Martinez.

It was great to have these people, along with so many others, show up to say goodbye. It was a day I won't soon forget!