Intro: Kevin Van Pelt

[lady1wallace]

I am the son of a maintenance of way MoPac employee who grew up across the street from the MoPac lines in Gorham, Illinois. My dad was Floyd “Bill” Van Pelt who started his career with the M&I in the Roots, Modoc, and Kellog terminal area across the river from Ste. Genevieve, Mo. He later transitioned to the MoPac so we left Prairie du Rocher, Illinois and moved to Gorham. Along comes the December 1957 tornado in Gorham so back to Prairie du Rocher until the new house was built and our return to Gorham in 1961 when I was 7 years old. I developed a life long love of the MoPac line as Gorham had two main lines and a modest switching yard. At Gorham the old CE&I branch line took off to northern Illinois. We lived temporarily in the old apartment house right next to the tracks in Gorham. MoPac was a way of life for me growing up in Gorham. I turn 68 in a few days and one of my goals is to revive my HO layout with MoPac rolling stock as I remember as a kid. I’m glad to be a member of this society and look forward to keeping my dad’s memory alive through it and my memories as a kid growing up “on the tracks”.

[Author]

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