Doug Wilson's Dad passed away

[amtrakjackson]

Some of you on this board might know Doug Wilson; he and his dad have been railfannig the Lansing area for four decades. Last week his father George passed away at the age of 87.

Not to make light of it, but the circumstances of his death were curious. He died while munching a chili dog at the A&W in Grand Ledge. An employee called the Wilson residence and asked for Doug. "Is your dad George Wilson? Well, he's here in the restaurant and didn't make it. Do you want to come pick him up?" Doug simply asked, "Didn't make what?" to which the reply was, "You know, he, um, died. Can you come get 'em?"

Some background. We'd always talked about taking his dad to Pennsylvania on a railfan trip, but never got around to it. Obviously it's too late now.

Every cloud has a silver lining, however. Since he never got to see Horseshoe Curve and it seems I had some culpability in that regard, Doug said his dad spoke to him from beyond and said I should just give Doug HO scale Athearn RTR AA GP-35s; the whole fleet, and that would clear up any possible responsibility with Horseshoe Curve. His dad would be able to rest in peace.

Now, I'm thinking this is sort of goofy-a** blackmail. But I do want to do the right thing and reconcile. Maybe I'll get Doug drunk (wait- no, not a good idea if any of you recall him).

[leo28150]

Maybe you should take him to A&W also, since he wants to 'blackmail' you

[GP9R]

That does sound a bit odd to me

[amtrakjackson]

I was thinking of taking some old fat-bodied Athearn GP35s, hacking the dynamics off with my buck knife and filling the fan area with some chewing gum. Next, slathering on the Testor's Orange Gloss paint (you know, from the small bottle) with a plastic bristle brush. And lots, so I know it's really on there. Then, while the paint is still tacky, taking the decals and pressing them into the paint nice n' good so they don't peel off. But those darn numbers are tough, so I think the best route is to just write them on with a Bic pen. For realistic weathering, I'll leave them outside in the elements for a while, so they collect all kinds of hair and lint over the three months it takes for the paint to dry. They'll be masterpieces.