Nostalgia & History > George Cockle obituary

Well-known rail photographer and author George Cockle passed away on Friday the 25th:

https://www.bevisfh.com/obituaries/Colonel-George-Cockle/#!/Obituary

I met George maybe 2 or 3 times in the late 70s, always in the company of long time friend Jim Watson. In those vintage days I was just a novice railfan photographer wannabe. Whenever I was in the presence of these two already well-established photographers I knew better than to try and take part in their sometimes animated conversations. I found George to be very knowledgeable about many aspects of the railfan world, if also a bit eccentric. You definitely remembered an in person meeting with George. If not, you just weren't paying attention. All in all I have to say the railfan fraternity lost one of its more cherished characters, a true one-of-a-kind...  RIP, George! Clear signals onward...

Lance Garrels
Manhattan, KS

George worked for me for a time in the Union Pacific public relations office.  He was like having a big puppy around always getting in trouble but easy to forgive.  He loved to climb signals, cars and even to the top of locomotives.  The VPOs office warned me that if they caught George on top of another unit they would throw him in jail.  He did get arrested down in Louisiana by a parish sheriff for doing just that.  I spent a lot of time that night getting him out.

I was aware of his military career but he seldom spoke of it.  He was just happy living life.  He loved my wife’s Bourbon balls that I brought to the office every Christmas.  I was worried when we didn’t get a his Christmas card this year.  It was always a George Cockle photo of a UP locomotive.

We’ll miss you big guy.

John Bromley

I am also saddened by this news of George's passing. I got an email at the office from our editor containing the response he got from Florida when he was trying to contact George. George passed on Friday. I met him several times while on the steam crew and at a few of the UPHS conventions. Rest easy George and may you have clear blocks and straight rails.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

I have a few of his UP Books. Giants of the West being my fave. RIP George. 

MILW86A 

I hate to hear this.  Thank you George for all the fine rooftop detail photos over the years.  The drones came just a bit late for you - I know you would have used the heck out of them!    

I was impressed by his photography and energy to cover UP special movements and new equipment. You had to get up very early in the morning if you wanted to get ahead of him. I saw him many times when I lived in Nebraska in the late 1980's . The last time I saw him was on the Vinson St viaduct waiting to take photos of UP 844 West . There he was at a cutout spot in the viaduct fence. I had a notion that he had something to do with that "port" as he  told me in a friendly way to" go over there to that opening near you . " George in those days shot with big Pentax 6X7 camera. He told he had three I seem to  recall. RIP George.    --Kelly
'

It was with direct encouragement from George that got me started as a published author. I first met George in 1973 at the WGRF get-together in Omaha. We stayed in touch and in 1978 during a visit to UP headquarters at the invitation of Frank Acord, I called George. He immediately invited me to his house for a wonderful dinner with him and his wife. Later that night, he was nice enough to escort me to the station and made sure I got on the westbound Amtrak train. During the time waiting for the train's arrival, he continued to share numerous stories of his time as a railfan, and as an Air Force officer.

When I returned to the railfan hobby in the mid-1980s, I called him to ask a couple questions. We started to talk regularly via telephone, and in 1988 he encouraged me to compile my notes about Union Pacific diesel locomotives into a magazine article. He put me in touch with Bill Schaumburg at Railroad Model Craftsman, and the result was an article in November 1988 about the unique Bamberger RS-1 that became UP 1270; my very first article as an author. At the same time, he found drawings of UP's turbocharged GP9s, along with a few other bits at UP headquarters where he was working as a consultant. My article about UP's groundbreaking efforts with turbocharging was made better with his help. He continued to push me to compile all my notes into a roster listing of Union Pacific diesel locomotives, and I finally agreed, but only if he furnished the photos. Working with Paul Withers at Withers Publishing, the "Union Pacific 1990" book was the result.

A couple years later we decided to go our separate ways, but I was in Omaha in 1995 doing research on my "Ogden Rails" book and called him. We spent a very pleasant evening at his favorite steak restaurant, and agreed to work together on some future project. Sad to say, that was the last time I saw George, and we only communicated a couple times after that. He was a great motivator, and I often think of him and the projects we worked on together.

Don Strack

I knew George since I was a teen-ager. He had an interesting life. My late father was WWII Normandy and a railfan. He and George got along well.

Tim Vana/Omaha, NE

mopac1978 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well-known rail photographer and author George
> Cockle passed away on Friday the 25th:
>
> https://www.bevisfh.com/obituaries/Colonel-George-
> Cockle/#!/Obituary

Was a nice guy for awhile, then he ripped off at least 7-8 railfans bicentennial slide collections to do a book, that NEVER ever got published.
He never responded to anyone whose collections he took, with a promise to return within a year, he never did.
I was one who loaned him about 20 hard to find ones and never got them back or response.
Ran into him in 1990's in KC, when I went to ask him, he ran to his car and ran like a crook !
Lots of WGRF people are still mad him after all these, no slides back, no book and NO questions ever answered.