Railroaders' Nostalgia > Archie, Jughead, and.. Doyle

This posting is on the history page, where it belongs. But I've placed it here too simply to attach it to my AFT series.

Archie, Jughead, and Doyle. You think I'm kidding? Not quite.
First, go down and read the Sunday comic strip below. I'll wait here.
Done? Okay, good.
The strip is amusing, as well as a bit of a surprise, if you tend to follow all things railroad oriented. All the more so if you're interested in the AFT in particular.
But here's the thing: it really happened!

It's a story best told by Doyle himself:

SR.....
Sent the Archie cartoon off to you today. Here is the genesis of the storyline.
We took over for the T-1 in Chicago and after displaying in Crystal Lake, Rockford, and Aurora we were on our way to Green Bay, Wisconsin on August 14, 1975.

After passing through Chicago we were on the C&NW heading north. Everywhere we went there were thousands of people trackside to watch us pass by, most were waving American flags and cheering as we passed. As we were passing through Kenosha, Wisconsin , about 42 miles north of Chicago, again there were large crowds of folks waving and cheering and a band playing. We were running at our max allowed speed, 45MPH, and I was blowing the whistle and waving back.

About a hundred miles further north we stopped at Sheboygan, Wisconsin for water. As we were taking water my boss Chuck Aly walked up and stood beside me for a little while. Chuck was a large man, in stature and character, and always dressed in a denim leisure suit with cowboy boots and hat, and a smile. Finally he turned to me, still smiling, and said. "tell me Mac, why didn't you stop back there in Kenosha and pick up all those nice people"? I answered "nobody told me to stop and pick up anyone". He replied "nobody told you to stop and pick up the Mayor of Green Bay, the local committee, the TV news crews, and the newspaper folks"? I said "nope, no one told me about stopping anywhere". With that he turned and walked away, still smiling.

They had to arrange for busses to bring all the folks up to Sheboygan to board the train for the ride into Green Bay.

DLM


So how did this end up as an Archie storyline?! As Doyle mentioned, the actual event happened on August 14, 1975. The Archie strip ran nearly a year later on June 15, 1976. Is there a direct connection, or was it just an amazing coincidence? I tried to find out.
I talked to and traded correspondence with the Senior Art Director at Archie Comic Publications. In the end:

Hi Stephen
I didn't forget you. I'm sorry we don't have any real info about this strip except the Artist was Stan Goldberg & the writer was most likely George Gladir. Sorry we couldn't give you anything more interesting.
good luck on this project
Ellen

George Gladir passed away on April 3, 2013 and Stan Goldberg on August 31, 2014. RIP Gentlemen.
I was just a little too late with this- these men took the back story with them. In researching both men, I couldn't find any connections to the AFT, railroading, or even to the locations involved. So we'll never know for sure, but the possibilities are certainly intriguing!

SR Bush
Dutch Flat

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OMG, that is a lesson that everyone needs to be reminded of....
Not just railroading either.
Thanks for a peek at some old friends too.

Good rendition of the 4449 in AFT attire.
...Lorenzo

Nice!