Occupation: I am a retired locomotive engineer, having worked from June 26, 1956, until October 28, 1998, for the New Haven Railroad, for Penn Central, for Conrail and, finally, on the Housatonic line. My last passenger trip was April 30, 1971.

Now I spend my time mainly taking photographs of trains, doing historical research, organizing my collection of train memorabilia, and checking my logs kept throughout the years.

 I also volunteer at the Danbury Railroad Museum, and sometimes I give lectures.

 

How Long In Newtown: I was born in Danbury, June 6, 1938.

When I was 8, we moved to a house on The Boulevard. That was on August 20, 1946, and at first, I was very upset because I had to leave our old house where I could see the trains go by every day. As soon as I heard that first steam whistle blow over Newtown and realized the tracks ran just below our house, everything was OK. That was the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad.

The last steam engine that came through here was in April or May of 1948.

 

Biggest Change You Have Seen In Town: Besides growth, I would say it’s this: It used to be when you went into town, there wasn’t anyone you met that you didn’t know. Even the telephone operators were like your friends.

I still remember our phone number. After the operator said, “Number, please,” we said “682.” Some people only had one digit to their number.

 

Family: I never married or had a dog. When you work on trains, you’ve got to be able to get up and go. You’re on call and then you’re gone for weeks. It has been my whole life and I’ve loved it. Often I wasn’t able to be home for the holidays. We worked seven days a week.

 

Hobbies: I like to keep records and accuracy is important. When I have time, I go through all my photographs all the way back to the 1950s and check them against my log books to make sure the captions are correct.

I’ve got 26,000 railroad photos and slides, 8,000 vacation slides, and 6,000 black and white negatives. I know because one very snowy winter –– I think it was 1995–1996, I was in the house a lot, and I counted them.

But my favorite thing of all is simply to sit on a hillside where there aren’t any trees and photograph trains.

Favorite Form of Entertainment: I like opera and classical music, and I like the radio because you can work with your hands while you are listening.

 

Organizations: I was one of the founders of the Danbury Railroad Museum, and I am on their library committee. When they need me to, I run the locomotive.

Most Vivid Memory About Newtown: I remember the Yankee Drover Inn, and meeting everyone up there on Friday afternoons. It was the place to hang out. I remember the 1959 train wreck over Church Hill Road.

Other than that, I just remember how peaceful and quiet Newtown used to be, and driving on the dirt roads. Those were the days!

 

Favorite Vacation Spot: I would like to travel in the northwestern United States and Canada. The countryside is so beautiful.

 

Personal Philosophy: I believe if you love something, don’t ever give up doing it. Enjoy your life and share whatever is important to you with others who are interested. That’s my prescription for a healthy and happy life.

SNAPSHOT

Peter McLachlan