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Railroaders' Nostalgia > Harley GillelandDate: 09/09/16 18:49 Harley Gilleland Author: Hermosa45 I am not and never was a railroader, but this is a short note about one of the best railroaders around. I felt that regardless of who was who,
this was the best place to post this obituary. On August 5, 2016, retired Denver and Rio Grande Western Conductor Harley Gilleland passed away at the age of 83. Harley is survived by his wife of sixty-three years Janice, five childten, eighteen grandchildren and forty-seven (That is a correct number.) great gandchildren. He was a personal friend of Jack Dempsey, who like Harley, also grew up in Manassa, Colorado, in the San Luis Valley. Harley had forty-four years service with the Rio Grande, much of it working on their narrow gauge line from Alamosa, Colorado to Chama, New Mexico. He made many friends among the railfan community and was well known by other Rio Grande employees. Hermosa44 (Al Chione) Date: 09/10/16 06:36 Re: Harley Gilleland Author: Earlk I heard this the other day from another retired Grande old head, Eldon Morgan. I had seen Harley several times through the years and finally got to visit and tlak with him during my time on the SLRG in Alamosa.
Harley was trainman on the last D&RGW train to Silverton in 1981. RIP Harley. Date: 09/11/16 09:01 Re: Harley Gilleland Author: Cabhop I met Harley when I was an instructor for the SP post D&RGW take over. I had to do some computer training in Alamosa and Harley was one of the guys I worked with.
What a gentlemen. All of the train crews who still could hold a job in Alamosa were old heads and all had worked the Narrow Gage. Can you imagine showing up to this group to do computer training? But they were a good bunch and when they found I was very interested and had some basic knowledge of the old days, [I was no pup myself] they relaxed and we got along fine. I of course, had tons of questions about the narrow gauge operations. Harley opened up when my questions were not just typical "railfan" stuff like which engines or how many cars would be in a train, but how the operations worked from the crew's viewpoint: which were the best jobs, which of course for rails meant which jobs paid the most for the least amount work? Where were the layover terminals. How long did you have to layover before getting called to return home and what did you do in the layover towns to kill time?. How did they get you back to a terminal when [not if] you died on the law? Type questions. These questions would set off a round of rail stories with a lot of laughter. I don't know how much training I did, but it was one of the best times I ever had as an instructor, and Harley was very much a reason for that. Pat Date: 09/11/16 10:08 Re: Harley Gilleland Author: Grande473 Harley was the conductor on the last D&RGW train over Cumbres Pass in December 1968.
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