Dick Yager passes suddenly!!

A great loss to us all in the steam business. I met Dick for the first time on July 2, 1975 when the American Freedom Train 4449 arrived inside EMD for storage. Dick was one of the volunteers on the AFT locomotive crew, and he later got me involved with the initial restoration of NKP 765, back in the late 1970s.

I'll sure miss him, and all the years of fun we had together.

Thanks for posting this Ken.

Here's a couple of photos of Dick Yager, Jack...

KRK

During the first several years of RAILFAN (1975-78 before the & RAILROAD), some of the most entertaining articles were provided by Mr. Yager.
His experiences with #4449 and T&P #610 in particular provided this young railfan with actual on-board adventures in an era where the major magazines of that time were all we had for information and stories of working on the engines.

Mr. Yager's writing style was very self-deprecating, but his enthusiasm for the subject always came through.
I hope his family can take some solace in that he left a legacy in the hobby in many ways. Perhaps in the hereafter, he and Jim Boyd are chasing a steam fantrip, while Mr. Yager schemes a way to help fire the engine...

I only met Dick a couple of time in my early days on the 765 crew back in 1982-83. He was a big man, with a big voice and a big heart. Truly a "larger than life" character.

My condolences to his family.

Certainly sad news.  He was not expecting to die, apparently, and that makes it even more difficult for his family.  I'll add my sympathy to that of the many others who will be saddened by this.

Dick was without a doubt one of the true good guys. Big heart, loud spirit and an even bigger sense of humor.

On a side note, he has several whistles in his collection, one of which is a Hancock 3 chime off a Northern Pacific 2-8-8-4. Anyone who heard the 4449 from 1990 to 2010 will recognize this whistle.

So sad to hear of Dick's passing. I "got to know him" watching the Daylight Express video dozens of time. Later I took the Daylight's Vancouver BC to Portland trip and and finally met him in person. Dick made me feel like we were old friends. Great guy, he will be missed.

I did not know Dick Yager, but I have an enduring memory of him from one event. Had paced #765 on it's 1980 venture on the "Tip Up" (TP&W) to Keokuk, Ia. It was fairly late at night, the 765 had stopped on a highway crossing and had been impeded by light rail up to that point. When asked if they were going to get back to East Peoria at a decent time, Dick, who was firing,  replied, "We'll boogie once we get outta here!!"     That small vignette has always stuck with me!

Dick was kind of a prophet about all sorts of things.  AFAIK, He was the first person to use the term "foamer" (a hard core railfan who is foaming at the mouth), "sliders" used to identify a greaseburger (decades before burger chains actually used the term) and "stuff", a term used on a charge card slip to identify any sort of merchandise at his Sycamore Hollow Hobby Shot in Fort Wayne!  A one of a kind.......

Wayne, you absolutely correct. Dick picked it up from the Freedom Train Crew, who were all from the east coast and the NKP 759 operations. The term originally came as a result of "chaser/supporter" David Levine (sp) who they all considered "super foam". The term then resulted in FOMITE, which was an acronym for:

Far

Out

Mentally

Incompetent

Train

Enthusiast

eventually slurred into "Foamer, as it is used today. Thus that east coast term, was spread all over the western tour of the Freedom Train, and all future operations by 4449, by none other than my long time friend BIG Dick Yager!

My condolences to friends and family!  

My condolences to his family and friends.