Russ
Melichar Retires
Wisconsin Division
40 Years of
Service
Wisconsin Division Signal Maintainer Russell J. Melichar retired on December 30, 2008. Russ
hired out on the C&NW in 1968 as a Signal Maintainer Helper out of Butler,
Wisconsin.
A few years later, he was promoted as Assistant Signal Maintainer at St.
Francis. Then in 1974, he was promoted to
Signal Maintainer at West Allis, Wisconsin. Russ
was the last signal maintainer to work out of the West
Allis depot before it closed in 1977. After the depot closed, he returned to St.
Francis for a few years and then transferred to Butler,
remaining there until his retirement. Russ worked 40 years without an
injury. In November 2008, Russ was voted employee of the month
for the Chicago service unit. Russ
now plans to go hunting, fishing and spend time with
his grand kids. He is also planning an
Amtrak trip to Texas with his
wife Sharon to visit friends.
Russ is a member
of the C&NW Veterans and we sure hope he stays in touch with us. We all wish him a long retirement and the
best of luck. (Thanks to Dave Hawley for this news and the fine photso.)
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Signal
Maintainer Bob McMillan (left)
says good bye to Russ Melichar on Russ’
last day of work. Russ hired out on the C&NW in 1968 and Bob came in 1979. The picture was taken by Dave Hawley at Silver
Spring Road just north of Butler Yard on December 30, 2008.
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Here’s the West Allis Depot a few years
before Russ hired out – in 1947 to
be exact. Photo courtesy of Don Ross.
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Here’s
the gang that gathered at Butler
Tuesday morning to say good bye to Russ
(3rd from the left) and send him off to retirement. Left to right – Engineer Dave Hawley (Illinois Division), Rich Neither, Brian Stemp,
Scott Bockhop (all Wisconsin Division.
Engineers) and Conductor John Schoettel (Wisconsin Division). Dave
has known Russ for 35 years and
wasn’t about to miss this occasion!
Photo by Emily Hawley on 12/30/08.
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Revised:
01/05/09