Farewell to a Fellow Fanatic

A little while ago I learned that Robert L. Atkison, a Pittsburgh area native that I had run into a couple of times at a friend's BBQ event had passed away at the age of 61. I had known that he was interested in some rail topics, but was actually surprised to learn from his obituary that he was a "rail fanatic". The reason he is getting a shout out here on my signaling blog is because he always went by Brady, not Robert. This didn't click until I saw a shared photo of his work van.

If you see on the door he has a PRR style station sign for BRADY tower, located on the Allegheny River near East Brady, PA.

BRADY tower has actually come up in a previous article on US&S CTC using coded track circuits and I had visited the site (now a rail trail) back in 2021. Anyway, this just goes to show how people can have hidden depths that might actually be staring you in the face. I'm sorry I never got to talk towers with Robert/Brady, however we did have a bunch of conversations on other fun topics. I'll make a point to get back to the BRADY tower location and put down something in his memory.

Position Light Contributor Chris Meadows Killed in Hit and Run

Due to anonymity concerns I don't usually get to name the platoon of contributors who help me with my information gathering operations.  Other times they are simply friends or family I am able to browbeat into going on a photo mission for me.  One such friend was Chris Meadows and although he was not at all a railfan or rail industry professional, when IU tower in Indianapolis was faced with impending demolition, Chris went out of his way to get me some photos for no other reason than I asked.

This week Chris was killed by a hit and run driver in a fat tired Bro SUV  while biking around Indianapolis.  Although not a rail enthusiast Chris preferred public transport and bicycle transportation and was a consummate urbanist.  Chris' passion was reading and writing and had been a long time contributor to the e-Reading news website Teleread.org.  I made his acquaintance years ago in a fiction group and the work and enthusiasm he put into his interests was a positive force in the lives of those around him.   Chris and I have different hobbies, but we both engaged in non-market driven, hyper niche reporting because if we don't do it nobody else will as all the real money seems to be in promoting conspiracy theories 😢

Unfortunately I didn't get to use the photos Chris got for me back in May of 2019.  I figured I was going to do an "IU Tower Demolished" post, but the event happened without fanfare or demo photos and they just sat on my drive.  Nevertheless they are still an important part of the historical record so I am sharing them below.

 

 

The last days of IU, May 2019

2020 has been a very challenging year for a large number of reasons.  If there is one takeaway it's keep yourself safe.  If you're taking some risks getting some rail photos, keep your head on a swivel.  If you're following all the rules riding your bike downtown it's not going to stop some dude bro from rolling coal right over you.  Stay alert, be prepared, have a plan and let your friends and family know how much you care about them.