Trains.com

Paying it forward: A short story about the next generation of railroaders

Posted by Jim Wrinn
on Thursday, September 1, 2016

Sometimes the good you do is repaid many times over, but it takes a while to find out. Some times you know about it. Sometimes you don't. This tale comes to me from my good friend and our ad sales guy, Mike Yuhas. I'll let Mike take it from here.

"On the trade show floor at the American Railway Engineering Maintenance of Way Association in Orlando earlier this week, I heard a voice call 'Hello Mr. Yuhas.' I turned and smiled at the gentleman who said it, trying to put a name to the familiar face. He acknowledged that it had been a while since we had last seen one another, and introduced himself as Philip Strauss, project engineer with Archer Western in West Palm Beach. He's now in the thick of designing railroad facilities and infrastructure for All Aboard Florida.
 
"This is the same Phil Strauss who was in my sons' Boy Scout troop about a decade ago.
 
"One of the highlights of Troop 837's calendar in 2003 was the district camporee at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wis. We spent the weekend camped among the museum's artifacts; nearly 200 Scouts earned the Railroading merit badge. As one of the counselors, I had a lot of fun introducing the boys to the exciting world of railroading. Little did I know that 13 years later, one of those boys would take that brief encounter with railroading and turn it into a rewarding career."

We like to think of ourselves at Trains as incubators for railroaders, but I think Mike did us one better. Thanks to him for sharing the story and to our own Jane Bremmer for a great photo of a mentor and the student who did him proud.


 

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