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Garden Club Banquet Photos, 1980-1982:
BLE Division 161 (Southern Pacific Coast District, Western Division)




These photos depicting Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Division 161's Garden Club banquets come courtesy of retired SP/Amtrak Engineer Greg Welker, who supplied scans of his originals, copies of which appeared in various issues of the BLE newsletter in 1980-82. Over the years, Greg misplaced the caption information, but the good offices of the BLE in Cleveland recently researched their newsletter back issues and supplied Greg with the missing info. Many of these gentlemen also appear in History San Jose's Ernie Kiesel Collection of Southern Pacific Photographs. Greg has had these photos posted on Flickr for some time, but for some reason, I could never get links to work, Greg has kindly assented to their duplication here. In addition, you will find an index giving the service dates of the engineers in the photos.

The Garden Club

Dating to at least the early 1930's, but probably earlier, Southern Pacific Coast Division (later: Coast District, Western Division) engineers who worked jobs out of San Francisco and San Jose had a club formed, is assumed, to maintain the Mission Bay Gardens, which filled a small space sandwiched between San Francisco's Mission Bay Roundhouse whisker tracks and Mariposa Street. Many photos of the Garden appear in the aforementioned Kiesel Collection. The loosely organized association also charged itself with raising funds for mutually beneficial and charitable projects. In 1980-82, it hosted banquets in Sunnyvale (exact location, forgotten) which honored pensioners and likewise recognized working engineers with a formal distribution of BLE years-of-membership pins, a job of long time secretary-treasurer Welker (a familiar engineers' springtime refrain was, "Hey Welker, where are the BLE pins?").

Fundamentally, the Garden Club was composed of senior engineers, fellows who had known and worked with each other for three or four decades. They ran the show at Division 161, as Garden Club "members" also largely comprised the officers of Division 161.

Although Mission Bay Roundhouse and its Garden were two decades in the past by the times of the photos, the Garden Club remained, and continued on with new BLE Division 65, which was carved out of Division 161 after Amtrak succeeded SP in operating the Peninsula Commute Service in 1992. It finally began to fade away with the wave of ex-SP engineer retirements that began in earnest after 2000. I am not sure of its status in the Caltrain / Herzog era of the present.

In the first photo, you will note an exception to the old-man-rule at dead center in the top row: a comparative kid with a mustache and shaggy hair. That's Greg Welker, who at the time of the 1980 photo had less than ten years with SP. His status exceeded his seniority simply because he had taken that aforementioned secretary-treasurer job, a thankless one that nobody with whiskers wanted. Greg's relentless attention to detail in all things made him a natural for the position, a job that he held until the turn of the century, first for Division 161, then for Division 65. Thanks for the photos and all of those years keeping the division's business properly sorted, Greg! - E.O.


Index of people in photos
(photos further below)

Updated: 8-22

Have further info; related photos? Contact us at: wx4org@yahoo.com

> All individuals are engineers unless otherwise noted <

Service (seniority) date acronyms
Note that these represent the date of entry into a craft, not necessarily an original hire date with the company.

ESD: engineer; FSD: fireman; YFSD: yard fireman; RFSD: road fireman; CSD: conductor; YSD: yardman (switchman); CLSD: clerk

Adams, Pete
  • image #13, 21
Roundhouse foreman (San Jose?
Aven, J. W.
  • image #4
FSD: 8-21-36
ESD: 10-4-45- restricted to yard firman by 1956

Retired after 1960
Bailey, S. J.
  • image #1
FSD: 9-8-29
ESD: 9-3-44

Retired after 1960
Barker, G. E.
  • image #4, 12
FSD: 8-3-26
ESD: 11-26-41

Retired before 1982
Bingham, E. L.
  • image #2
FSD: 7-9-27
ESD: 11-14-42

Retired before 1980
Blasdel, A. N.. FSD: 9-27-37
ESD: 12-25-46

Retired after 1980
Brown, Forest
  • image #12, 13,
    23 (with wife?)
FSD: 10-27-17
ESD: 9-2-26
Road Foreman of Engines, San Francisco

Retired about 1980?
Buck, C. W.
  • image #3, 19
FSD: 12-7-42
ESD: 11-22-51

Retired by 1981
Buckley, R. E.
  • image #3
YFSD: 8-14-17
RFSD: 4-1-18
ESD: 9-23-26

Retired after 1960
Chamberlain, C. B.
  • image #2
FSD: 8-31-23
ESD: 6-26-41

Retired before 1955
Clark, J. J.
  • image #4
FSD: 10-12-27
ESD: 8-4-43

Retired 1980-82
Corbin, E. J.
  • image #1, 4, 8
FSD: 7-17-42
ESD: 9-29-51
DiSalvo, J. V.
  • image #3
FSD: 8-7-41
ESD: 5-7-51

Retired by 1981
Gilkey, J. H.
  • image #2
FSD: 7-14-26
ESD: 10-1-41

Retired: before 1960
Gotthard, Mary
  • image #12, 13, 21
ESD: Early 1980's?
Grassel, A. W. (A. M. ?)
  • image #2
FSD: 9-3-27
ESD: 11-16-42

Retired before 1980
Hambaugh, H. T. "Herbie"
  • image #1
FSD: 10-6-43
ESD: 11-30-54

Retired circa 1980
Hamann, R. H.
  • image #1, 4, 20, 22
FSD: 4-30-43
ESD: 12-27-52

Retired 1980-82
Hinman, F. L.
  • image #2
FSD: 8-15-36
ESD: 9-29-45

Retired before 1980
Jees, A. E. "Augie"
  • image #7, 14
FSD: 11-25-44
ESD: 12-17-54

Road Foreman of Engines, San Luis Obispo

Retired circa 1980's
Jett, F. W.
  • image #4
FSD: 7-24-26
ESD: 9-3-42

Retired before 1982
Johanson, F.
  • image #4
FSD: 10-13-41
ESD: 11-14-42

Retired before 1982
Johnson, H. K.
  • image #2
FSD: 10-13-27
ESD: 8-4-43

Retired before 1980
Karmann, G. A.
  • image #2
YFSD: 6-30-15
RFSD: 5-13-17
ESD: 6-6-25

Retired: after 1960
Kennedy, R. K.
  • image #2, 4, 18
FSD: 7-28-27
ESD: 11-14-42

Retired before 1980
Kiesel E. R. Ernie
  • image #2, 4
  • Kiesel Collection:
  • Pt. 3 pg. 2, 092, 156 (mentioned), 179
  • Pt. 4 pg. 4, 181, 229
  • Pt. 7 pg. 2, 137, 138 (mentioned), 139 (mentioned)
  • Part 10, Ernie Kiesel
FSD: 10-2-23
ESD: 6-26-41

Biograhical information

The Ernie Kiesel Collection Photographs at History San Jose
Langworthy, M. O.
  • image #1, 5, 6
FSD: 12-20-44
ESD: 12-17-54
Lindley, Walter E., Sr. FSD: 8-26-25
ESD: 8-13-41

Retired after 1960
Logan, Ray
  • image #15
no data
Maddux, C. A. ESD: 9-2-26

Retired after 1947
Meiswinkel, E. J.
  • image #1, 12
FSD: 4-5-42
ESD: 9-22-51
Miller, A. M.
  • image #1, 5, 6, 14, 18
FSD: 10-3-52
ESD: post 1960
Miramon, E. V. "Gene" FSD: 10-7-26
ESD: 9-20-42

Retired before 1980
Mohr, A. H.
  • image #3
YFSD: 4-29-17
RFSD: 9-9-17
ESD: 8-12-25

Retired after 1960
Neeley, S. P.
  • image #2
FSD: 7-31-37
ESD: 11-19-46

Retired before 1980
Nordgren, R. W. "Junior"
  • image #11
FSD: 7-23-53
ESD: ?

Retired early 1990's?
Oliveri, S. P.
  • image #1, 17
FSD: 8-26-46
ESD: 5-11-55
Paulson, A.
  • image #16, 19
no data
Porter, C.
  • image #16
no data
Potthoff, W. J.
  • image #1, 14
FSD: 5-21-41
ESD: 5-7-51
Prunk, E. P.
  • image #2, 4
FSD:8-13-37
11-24-46

Retired before 1980
Roem, G. G.
  • image #1
FSD: 11-19-41
ESD: 9-22-51

Retired after 1980
Rossi, A. A. "Al"
FSD: 8-18-23
ESD: 6-18-41

Retired before 1980
Shannon, Arlon C. "Mickey" ESD: 9-10-20

Retired 4-1-55

San Luis Obispo engineer

Image #17 also shows his wife, Seamus
Shaylor, E. J.
  • image #3
FSD: 7-30-26
ESD: 9-4-42

Retired by 1981
Seiverson, E. C.
  • image #4
FSD: 10-2-37
ESD: 12-31-46

Retired before 1982
Skagjford, B.
  • image #8
Roundhouse foreman, San Jose?
Sousa, M. A.
  • image #2
FSD: 11-2-25
ESD: 8-29-41

Retired before 1980
Starr, Leo
  • image #9
No data
Sturken, E. C. "Smokey"
  • image #1
FSD: 10-6-43
ESD: 11-30-54

father of SP trainman / Amtrak trainman, officer Al Sturken
Sturni, C.F.
  • image #4
FSD: 9-22-42
ESD: 9-29-51

Retired before 1982
Sullivan, E. J. FSD: 9-6-41
ESD: 9-22-51

Retired after 1980
Surdez, G. B.
  • image #1, 2, 3
FSD: 3-30-41
ESD: 5-7-51

Retired after 1980
Swanson, R. P. "Bob"
  • image #10
FSD: 10-19-36
ESD: 10-22-46
Swanson, W. A.
  • image #4
FSD: 7-25-26
ESD: 7-30-36 - somehow promoted to engineer with a group of 1920 firemen

Retired after 1960
Viscount, F. E.
  • image #2
FSD: 8-18-27
ESD: 11-14-42

Retired before 1980
Vodden, Neil M.
  • image #10, 18, 21
FSD: 11-13-44
ESD: 12-17-54

Retired 1980's
Walint, V. W.
  • image #2, 4
FSD: 8-17-36
ESD: 10-4-45

Retired before 1980
Warnick, J. A.
  • image #1
FSD: 7-20-55
ESD: post 1960
Welker, G. E. "Greg"
  • image #1, 20
ESD: 1972

retired 2007

Secretary-Treasurer BofLE Divisions 151, 65 for many years

White, Arthur E. FSD: 5-31-41
ESD: 5-7-51

Retired before 1980
Wilbert, Thelma
  • image #13
Crew clerk at 7th St.


GARDEN CLUB BANQUETS, 1980-82

locomotive engineers unless otherwise identified

Image #1, May 4, 1980

Working Engineers:

Back Row L-R: A. N. Blasdel, G. B. Surdez, A. M. Miller, G. E. Welker, J. A. Warnick, E. J. Meiswinkel.

Middle Row L-R: E. J. Corbin, M. O. Langworthy, S. P. Oliveri, H. T. Hambaugh, R. H. Hamann, E. C. Sturken.

Seated L-R: S. J. Bailey, C. F. Sturni, V. Allen, E. J. Sullivan, G. G. Roehm, W. J. Potthoff



Image #2, May 4, 1980

Retired Engineers:

Back Row L-R: F. E. Viscount, R. K. Kennedy, F. L. Hinman, V. W. Walint, H. K. Johnson, E. P. Prunk.

Middle Row L-R: E. V. Miramon, S. P. Neeley, C. B. Chamberlain, E. L. Bingham, A. W. Grassel, J. J. Clark, G. B. Surdez.

Front Row Seated L-R: A. A. Rossi, Ernie Kiesel, M. A. Sousa, G. A. Karmann, J. H. Gilkey, C. A. Maddux, A. E. White.


Image #3, May 3, 1981

Retired Engineers:

Back Row L-R: C. W. Buck, J. V DiSalvo, T. Seghieri, E. J. Shaylor

Seated L-R: G. B. Surdez, A. H. Mohr, R. E. Buckley, W. L. Lindley


Image #4, May 1, 1982

Retired Engineers:

Standing L-R: C. F. Sturni, E. C. Seiverson, V. W. Walint, F. Johansen, G. E. Barker, R. H. Hamann, E. J. Corbin, E. P. Prunk, J. J. Clark, J. W. Aven

Seated L-R: W. A. Swanson, C. A. Maddux, F. W. Jett, E. R. Kiesel, A. A. Rossi, R. K. Kennedy


Image #5, May 1, 1982

L - R. A. Miller, R - M. O. Langworthy


Image #6, May 1, 1982

L - R. A. Miller, Middle - M. O. Langworthy


Image #7, May 1, 1982

A. E. Jess, RFE - dark tie, S. P. Oliveri - front


Image #8, May 1, 1982

L- E. Corbin, B. Skagjford, roundhouse foreman


Image #9, May 1, 1982

Leo Starr (occupation?)


Image #10, May 1, 1982

rrL to R: ?, Bob Swanson, N. M. Vodden


Image #11, May 1, 1982

L to R: R. W. Nordgren, A. N. Blaisdel, G. E. Barker, unknown San Jose roundhouse foreman


Image #12, May 1, 1982

L to R: J. Lyden, ?, Forest Brown-RFE, Mary Gotthard, Pete Adams-roundhouse foreman


Image #13, May 1, 1982

L to R: Forest Brown-RFE, Mary Gotthard, Pete Adams-roundhouse foreman, Thelma__-clerk


Image #14, May 1, 1982

L to R: R. A. Rossi, A. M. Miller, W. J. Potthoff, A. E. Jess, ?


Image #15, May 1, 1982

Right - Ray Logan (occupation?)


Image #16, May 1, 1982

Left: C. Porter (occupation?), drinking-A. Paulson (occupation?)


Image #17, May 1, 1982

Center: Arlon "Mickey" Shannon, with his wife, Seamus


Image #18, May 1, 1982

L to R: A. M. Miller, N.M. Vodden, R. K. Kennedy


Image #19, May 1, 1982

L to R: ?, /, C. W. Buck, C. Porter (occupation?), ?, A. Paulson (occupation?)


Image #20, May 1, 1982

L to R: R. H. Hamman, G. E. Welker


Image #21, May 1, 1982

L to R: ?, Mary Gotthard, Pete Arnold-roundhouse foreman, N. M. Vodden


Image #22, May 1, 1982

L to R: R. H. Hamann, E. J. Meiswinkel


Image #23, May 1, 1982

Forest Brown-RFE and (wife?)

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