Western Railroad Discussion > Sad News - Richard Hamilton

Some sad news to report today.
Richard Hamilton, of the Lets Talk Trains internet talk show, passed away sometime late Thursday, July 30th or early Friday, July 31st. We could not make contact with Richard over the last week or so, and went to check on him today, learning from his landlord that he was found Friday morning.
The San Diego County coroner has made contact with relatives in the LA area, and we are waiting to find out more information about any services.
I will advise everyone when I have more information.
Richard just hit 60 years of age June 29th, and was a life member of the San Diego Electric Railway Association and had been a member of the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum, and the Poway Midland Railroad in Old Poway park.
Lets Talk Trains just celebrated its 7th anniversary this July. I know Steamjocky and SPloopconductor had participated on some of his shows, so I'd like to ask John and Larry to pass this info on to other listeners they know. We are trying to inform as many of his listeners we can find, he had a list of listeners at one time, but no one knows where it can be found.
Thank You and Be Safe Out There,

Michael Reading



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/09 00:09 by 2720.

I sorry to hear this as I had known Richard for about 18 years and I had been a guest on his show
many times over the years. this breaks my heart!

chris

i have been a listener of Let's Talk Trains since the start. I won a couple of his early listener contests and provided the idea for the logo that he used for Let's Talk Trains. He will be missed.

Winston Walker

(R.I.P.)Engineer Richard.I will miss you very much.:(



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/09 22:10 by msdgbar.

very sad to hear. i really enjoyed that show. it seems the site has gone away as well.... we will miss you richard!

Will Hemb
Flower Mound, TX

Hi Guys it's Nicolas one of the long time co-hosts of The Let's Talk Train Show and friend of Richard Hamilton. This is shocking and saddening news. I think the best thing we can do at this point is to pass this information along to fellow friends and listeners.

I can be reached via email nicnacjak@gmail.com

Thanks,
Nicolas

Very sorry to hear this. I met him a couple of times as he passed through Albuquerque. Real nice guy...

Very sad news indeed.. I had the pleasure to meet Richard a number of times at various Trainweb events. Also shared a Surfliner trip with him one DEC in 2007 from Santa Ana - Oceanside. We talked the whole way about various things.

He will be missed...

Tony

Yes, I have to agree with my friend Tony, very sad news indeed.

I also have a post on Altamont Press (see link below) as that is the only place I could post late last night due to my home computer for some technical reason not accepting TO posts.

Here is the link: http://www.altamontpress.com/discussion/read.php?1,30317,30317#msg-30317

As Tony has already stated, Richard will be missed.

ken15

Sorry to hear of this, I listened to the show occassionally, seemed like a nice chap.

It's always sad when we lose someone who passes away before we think they should have. Richard was truly one of the good guys. He always had a smile and we shared quite a few lunches on my layover when I was a hogger on the San Diegans. He wasn't one of those "combat" railfans that purported to "know everything". Rather, he was always on the search for new information about the trains he loved so much. He always made sure his program was entertaining. To say Richard will be missed is an understatement. To meet Richard was to make a new friend.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/09 17:23 by whistlepig.

... Just saw this news... I'm shocked! I called Richard a week and a half ago to discuss the finish of SteamJocky's and my story of our derailment at Cameron, CA. We ran out of time on a show 2 years ago, and have been trying to finish it up, always having something come up to delay it. We were going to try for it in a couple of weeks. During that call, he asked me about my health, and I told him I'm feeling fairly well, he said that he had been feeling "worn out" for several days. Just last Monday, my phone rang and I answered "Yes, Richard" ... there was a pause, then he said "Conductor Larry? Oh, I hit the wrong key, I don't want to talk to you!" laughing as he said that. "Hey, we'll talk later." Now, sadly, that will never happen. He then put out his weekly reminder for the show explaining that he was ill, and there was no live show, and that they're were 3 solutions to his current health: 1) He would be better, and the show would go on next week. 2) He would still be 'under the weather' and re-play a past show. 3) Or he would be buried in the ground. I'm sure that last one was Richard just being his sometimes silly self. (I sure hope it was!)

Richard was a good friend since he invited me on the show 6 years ago, and we would talk about twice a month about things RR, as well when I would call into the show. He had a true world-wide web broadcast, with listeners in almost every country on earth. Hosting a weekly 2 hour (was 3 hours for a time) show took a lot of time, and was a big part of Richard's life. He took great pride in it's production. He will be missed by many TO contributors and scores of folks around the world. My thoughts to all that knew Richard Hamilton.

Once again... you just never know. I feel just so bad.


Take Care, Stay Safe, Have Fun!

Larry

Wow, this is truly shocking news, Richard interviewed myself and one of our founding members of our little railroad museum is Sturtevant Wisconsin. I have always enjoyed the show. The stories and the interviews of all of his guests. Something that will truly be missed. Hopefully some one can fill the shoes and let his legacy continue, even if it is only a once the month show.

Mike Slater
President of the Western Union Junction Railroad Museum
Sturtevant Wisconsin