Railroaders' Nostalgia > Jim "Termite" Hasbrouck

SP's LA Division has lost one it's true characters: J F Hasbrouck.  Universally known as "Termite" a guy with a gruff exterior but a generous and fun loving heart.  Termite always carried a camera and took a lot of great shots of equipment and facilities.  

Being pretty close in scennie, we worked on the same crew or he broke for me a lot over the years, and I can say he was a great rail.  For Termite railroading was both a profession and a hobby.

Highball the switch Termite, I'll line it behind you. 

Sorry to hear of Jim's passing. Yes, he was certainly a character. The photo is one that Jim took of my train one day as I was eastbound 
while passing over Valley Blvd. at the west end of Aurant yard in Los Angeles. Jim was on duty and giving us a roll-by but that fact didn't deter
him from pursuing his avocation. Just as my engine got close to him, he put his camera up to his eye and snapped this one off. I was happy
that he managed to capture the white flags displayed denoting an 'extra' train. I had found them somewhere around the roundhouse a few 
days earlier and threw them in my grip. I'm glad that he managed to capture "the moment" since one of them decided to fly off the front of the 8873
when a gust of wind hit us while at speed around Guasti.  About a week passed and one day in the company mail box at the engineers register room
was this nice 8X10 glossy B&W print. We worked together during the last week the night Culver City switcher worked.

Quite a guy. Rest in peace, Termite.

Charlie



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/19 12:02 by cewherry.

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Lord I think just about every railroad, and maybe darned near every terminal, has a guy with the nickname "Termite". This one sounds like quite the character. RIP Jim.

His Dad was in pest control, hence the name.  He dressed in khakis from his ball cap to his pants.  He always carried an OET switch key (PE Ry cut) in hopes of finding one still in service.  Great guy and friend without a doubt.  Then there is the story of returning a flop over derail...........

   Termite and I were about the same seniority and we were in the same promotion class in 1971.  At the time, you had the option of establishing seniority on the Los Angeles Division, the San Joaquin Mountain District, or the San Joaquin Valley District.  Termite thought I was totally nuts for taking mine on the Mountain District.
  As stated before, he was an excellent railroad man, but when he got the test pencil in his hand, he froze up.  Between the testing officer Dick Shafer and the rest of us, we got him through the test.
   Does he have any family that are taking care of funeral arrangements?  I know he never married, but as I vaguely recall, he had a sister..  That'll be quite a task going through his collection, I'm sure.

Brian Black
Castle Rock, CO

Gonna miss Termite.
He had such as dry sense of humor.
He cracked me up with his stories.
He was a regular at Allied Model Trains on Pico.
We talked for hours and hours.
R.I.P Jim.

Posted from Android

Jim was the conductor on my very first student trip as a fireman from L.A. to W. Colton.  He seemed to have a gruff exterior but as I was to learn over the years, he had a heart of gold.  I think he lived with his mother who has probably long since passed.  Don't know of any other family.  He was fun to work with when you got to know him.  R.I.P. Jim.  We will miss you.

Ray