Eastern Railroad Discussion > Another sad loss in Cumberland,MD.

Tom Biery has passed.  times-news.com/obituaries
Tom was an accomplished rail photographer, book author, and had headed the Cumberland NRHS Chapter for some time. He had been a founding member of this chapter when it formed in 1977 to assist with the Chessie Steam Special. Tom and my father were colleagues at Kelly Springfield Tires in Cumberland, and at age 17, I found myself recruited to join the chapter and become a teenage car host on 2 Chessie Specials.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/23 06:44 by bigsavage.

Good Lord! I saw Tom last August at the B&O convention in Cumberland. That was a year ago, but he looked great. We hung around together a few times on my visits to the area. Good photographer who documented that area and others superbly. I will miss him!

That's Tom on left, Dave Ori, me, and Herb Harwood last year in Cumberland

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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Thank you for posting.  I first met Tom well over 25 years ago when I spent several weeks in Cumberland for work.  Though we haven't crossed paths as much in recent years due to my less frequent travel to the Cumberland area, I count him as a friend.  Our recent interactions were mostly at slide slows held in conjunction with the train show in West Springfield, MA each January.  A friend informed me 3.5 weeks ago as to Tom's recent health developments and that his time was short.  I will miss him. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/23 07:17 by Chessie.

Full link to the obituary--

Thomas Biery | Obituary | Cumberland Times News (times-news.com)

I had the pleasure of meeting Tom and viewing his photographs when he would join us on Saturday nights in Hyndman, PA.  A sad loss, indeed.

Mike Derrick
 

Sad news. RIP Tom. 
MILW86A 

I WANTED to meet him one day at sand patch here theres an elevated spot and bench somewhere on sandpatch to see trains with a spectacular view

very sad.........

nick

Sorry to hear this. Back in 1963 he snapped some pictures of people getting off an Iron Horse Ramble at the train station in Allentown, Pa. A picture is in his Alcos to Allentown book. Then about 15 years ago the same picture appeared in the Sunday morning Allentown newspaper along with an artical on Tom. I looked at the picture and noticed some familiar faces. My father and myself (at age 6) were standing right in front of him when he snapped the picture. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. The next trip I made, my wife and myself went to his house outside of Cumberland but Tom wasn't home. I called him on the phone a few days later and had a nice chat with him and told him how incredible that picture was to me. RIP.

twl

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/23 12:16 by globalethanol.

Very sad. Tom was a good friend, a gentleman, an excellent photographer, a knowledgeable railfan, and an genuine nice guy.  I will miss him immensely. 

So sorry to hear this. I think I met Tom at NRHS in Cumberland. It sounded like he was a very nice guy.