Railroaders' Nostalgia > My unforgettable friend, Jim

When a decades-long, close friend in his 70s suffers a major health issue such as a heart attack, common sense tells you to prepare yourself for something worse. Something more final. But you are never really prepared for the hammer-blow of a death that comes virtually out of the blue. Jim Watson, who was "UP6900" here on TO, passed away on Saturday evening, May 15. Apparently from a mercifully quick heart attack. Death is always a necessary and inescapable part of life. But it is my memories of Jim's life I want to touch upon.

As I recall I first met Mr James Wendall Watson in 1976 at a model RR swap meet here in our hometown of Manhattan, KS. At the ripe ol' age of 21 I was a complete greenhorn in the ways of capable railfan photography. But this was destined to change. And very much for the better. At first I found Jim somewhat aloof and quite intimidating. He had rented a table at our swap meet. Jim was a staunch, dyed-in-the-wool Union Pacific fan! But he had piles of color and black & white "train picture" prints of several different RRs to browse through. I was especially enamoured with a huge stack of color 8x10s of BN's early rainbow days. I even bought a couple. But I don't think I ever apologized to Jim for drooling all over the rest of those prints. I remember thinking while drooling that I could never be this good at photography. Heck, I wouldn't have the first clue how to find all the locations represented in those prints.

Then a funny thing happened. Against all sensible predictions, Jim took me under his wing and I began to learn how to be a capable 35mm photographer. He taught me to think in algebraic terms about how a photographer gets correct exposures with given film speeds under a dizzying variety of conditions. He taught me how changes in shutter speeds needed critical corresponding adjustments in aperture settings. You always wanted to balance the equation. Incredibly, he began to invite me along on his travelling sales-rep, business trips. This included occasional overnight trips. Any shared motel room was a pre-paid business expense, anyway.

As a budding young 'train nut, picture-taker' Jim introduced me to railfan meccas I could previously only dream about. He was the first one to get me into to places like Omaha/Council Bluffs, BN's Hobson yard in Lincoln and of course, North Platte. And Jim had a way of establishing his ego over you. He sorta made sure I knew I wouldn't be getting into those places without his connections. He might have been right, but I soon learned to take his ego in playful stride. I suspected that my employment with Santa Fe might have gotten me into some of those places without him, which was later confirmed with solo trips on my own. Then came the day Jim took me up to Sherman Hill for my very first time! Read on:

I can't talk about fond memories of my late friend without relaying this amusing anecdote, which took place in September of 1979. By that time I had about 16 months of Santa Fe train & yard service under my belt. So with me now working for my beloved blue & yellow and Jim bleeding Uncle Pete's yellow & gray we engaged in more than one ego-jousting session! All in great fun, of course. So... this way to Sherman Hill!!! It was everything I thought it would be, and more. Thanks to Jim I bagged some interesting trains, including a couple of 6900s coming west out of the tunnel at Hermosa. And when Amtrak #6 showed up with a beautiful yellow E-unit banana on the point I remember thinking it would never get any better than that. Many trains rolled by during the course of that visit. But I remember one eastbound train, pointed by another 6900 that as fate would it have I never shot. This was because it was stopped for a meet just prior to entering the tunnel. At that point this 24 year old Santa Fe brakeman waltzed right up to the ground under that 6900's cab and started up a pleasant chat with the hogger. When he found out I was a Santa Fe brakie he asked "Ya wanna a ride down to Cheyenne?" WHOA!!! I was struck with a jolt of adrenalin I can still feel today! Every railfan bone in my body screamed out yes, yes, by all means YES! But I looked at my rabid UP fan friend Jim, who was out of earshot many yards away. I really struggled on a decision. I came to the conclusion that if I were to accept the offer, a very much out-of-his-mind-with-jealousy Jim Watson would have to drive down to Cheyenne to retrieve me. And all I could envision was how long the walk back to Kansas would have been... ;^)

There is a post-script: I never told Jim that story. After getting retired and back home to Kansas in 2010 I immediately looked him up and we resumed our age-old friendship. I even got him onto TO as a member, which led to me scanning & posting many dozens of his slides. After a couple of years he showed his appreciation by taking me out for a steak dinner. I said "Jim... I have a confession to make...", and spilled that whole tale. Then I asked him what he would have done if our places were reversed. He never missed a beat, and said: "I woulda left your ass up there on that hill in a heartbeat." True story... :^)



On May 16 on the Western forum I posted a brief announcement about Jim's passing. I am very grateful for all of the kind replies this generated. Along with today's RRer's Nostalgia treatise I will pass all of this kindness on to his wife, Marie. She is very much aware of the enjoyment Jim got not only from being a TO member, but also from Jim engaging me to post railfan photography from his vast 60+ year collection. Marie assures me I will be able to finish scanning through Jim's entire collection before she sells it. I am looking forward to this labor of railfan love...

1. Here is the DP unit on some eastbound coal loads, holding the main at Aikins, KS on May 18, 2021. In what was surely a moment of Divine Providence, UP 6900 showed up in perfect light for me to shoot! "UP6900" was my late friend Jim Watson's screen name here on TO...

Thanks for listening!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Remembering the late James W. Watson

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Great photo and a really nice tribute to your friend! My condolences to you and Jim's family!

Very nice and enjoyable tribute to your late friend. I would have done the response as Mr. Jim Watson on the cab ride offer on Sherman Hill, Raton Pass or almost anywhere else on the UP or Santa Fe.

Don Allender

Sincere condolences.
JB

A very NICE tribute to your friend and UP6900.

Larry

Met Jim many, many years ago when he made trips to the Denver area ... also traded slides with him back then ... thanks for letting us know Lance, and that fine tribute.

Wonderful story. Thank you for sharing.

Posted from Android

valmont Wrote:

> Met Jim many, many years ago when he made trips to
> the Denver area ... also traded slides with him
> back then ... thanks for letting us know Lance,
> and that fine tribute.

The images that UP6900 and valmont contributed to the UP motive power book back in the 70's is one reason I continue to enjoy stuff posted out of their respective collections to this day. Thank you and rest in peace, Mr. Watson. You have provided a lifetime of learning for the next generation.

IC1038west Wrote: > ... ... Mr. Watson ... You have provided a lifetime of learning for the next generation ...

And there is quite a lot more to come... :^)

Lance

Lance, sincere condolences to you and to Jim's family and friends at his passing. You have spoken of him many times, and your remembrance shows how much his friendship and mentoring meant to you. Such friends are not common, and that makes their passing all the more sorrowful for us.But your appreciation of Jim will live on in your memories, in your stories about him, and in sharing his work. That will always be a heartfelt memorial to him.

Thanks for posting this. My regrets that I did not see this until today, 5/31, and I missed your other note on Jim's passing at that time.

MC

Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend.