There are so many facets of this hobby that I love. Besides railfanning, collecting railroad memorabilia is at the top of that list. Growing up in Georgetown, KY the majority of my collection is focused on the famed Southern Railway subsidiary, the Cincinnati New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (CNO&TP). On June 10, 2015 I received a lead from a friend of a double-marked CNO&TP M.M. Buck Bellbottom with Queen and Crescent clear etched globe located just up the road from me in Columbus, OH. I traveled on a steamy June day to pick the lantern up and on my return trip down I-75 I knew my good friend, Dave Isaacs, an engineer on the "modern day" CNO&TP, was running train 147 south from Cincinnati to Burnside, KY. After hauling the mail through northern Kentucky, I finally got ahead of the train around Williamstown, KY. I was able to get to my hometown of Georgetown just in time to set the lantern up at the site of the former Georgetown depot in time for 147 to blast through town with three modern EMD SD70ACEs on the point. For one last time, the 100 plus year old lantern protected the very railroad she was built for. Now if only I could have rebuilt the old depot, inserted a wimble equipped green and gold PS-4 on the point of the train and witnessed the Frankfort and Cincinnati exchanging boxcars full of bourbon!
