2012 Elections

Here are the candidates for officers and board members at large of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry. Preservation Society, 2012-2015. They will be voted on at the Reunion General Membership in Jackson, Tenn., May 18-20. Walk-on candidates are welcome. For absentee ballots and proxies, please contact David Ellenburg.

Terry Coats, president (incumbent) of the NCPS, was born in 1949 in McKenzie, Tenn., about 40 yards from the Nashville Division mainline of the NC&StL Ry. During his life he has lived in seven towns or cities, and all seven have been NC towns. Though Terry has never worked for the railroad, he has always had a love of trains and for the NC especially. He still remembers the yellow and maroon GP7s and the striped boxcars of his youth. Terry moved from Dresden, Tenn., to Nashville in 1960 and later obtained a bachelor’s of science degree from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. After graduation from college, he joined the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department, from which he retired after 30 years of service. Terry and wife Jane are volunteers at the Tennessee Central Ry. Museum in Nashville. Terry also is author of the book, “Next Stop on Grandpa’s Road: History & Architecture of NC&StL Railway Depots and Terminals.”

Tom Knowles, vice president (incumbent), and his wife Maryann Knowles live in Cowan, Tenn., where Tom is curator of the Cowan Railroad Museum. Tom, who also is chief preservation officer of NCPS, was born in Nashville and has been involved in hands-on restorations of trains most of his adult life. In Cowan, he’s been renovating the museum building, modeling the Cumberland Pusher District in HO scale and restoring the museum’s full-sized equipment including NC&StL 44-tonner No. 100 and an NC caboose. Tom got into railroad preservation after serving in the U.S. Air Force, moving to Indiana and marrying. In 1969, he received a copy of Richard Prince’s book on the NC and its steam engines, which he says “rekindled the dormant NC&StL gene in me.” He’s been a model railroader, rail photographer and chairman and overseer of steam for the Indiana Railroad Museum in Greenburg. Maryann is NCPS Information Officer overseeing the newsletter and website. Tom and Maryann moved to Cowan in 2009 when Tom was named curator of the museum.

David Ellenburg, secretary and treasurer (incumbent), has been a member of the Society since August 2002. He grew up in Huntsville, Ala., just a few hundred yards from the NC&StL Huntsville Division tracks that connected to the NC “navy” operations on the Tennessee River between Incline and Guntersville, Ala. He is retired from government service where his work experience included program/contract management, budgeting, accounting and data systems development. David lives in Winchester, Tenn., and is a lifetime member of the Cowan Railroad Museum, where he serves on the Board of Directors and as the gift shop manager.

Board member at large candidates

Dain Schult (incumbent) is the founding father of NCPS; the whole idea started with him 10 years ago. The organization’s first president, Dain today is a board member at large. He lives in Austin, Texas. Dain's grandfather worked for the NC for more than 40 years as a fireman and engineer on the Atlanta Division, which prompted his interest in the railroad and especially No. 576, since his grandfather used to run that engine. The 4-8-4 “Dixie”-type locomotive built in 1942 is on display in Centennial Park, Nashville; the “Preservation” in the society’s title originates with Dain’s efforts to preserve the engine, with the dream of some day reactivating it. Dain is the author of "Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis: A History of the Dixie Line."

David Ibata (incumbent) is editor of The Dixie Flyer, the NCPS newsletter. A lifelong railfan whose father and grandfather worked at times for the Union Pacific, he grew up and spent most of his adult life in the Chicago area before taking a job as a news editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper and moving his family to Kennesaw, Ga., in 2007. There, he quickly adopted the NC&StL as his hometown railroad. He also is active with the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, home of the famous Civil War locomotive General.

Bill McCord (new) was born and reared in Tullahoma, Tenn., not far from the NC&StL main line. He submits this bio: “Although I was born after the merger of the NC into the L&N, I have forever had an interest in the NC and railroading in general. I apparently inherited this from family members who were affiliated with the NC. I became a member the NCPS upon it being chartered and have attended all but a few of the annual reunions. I am a Transportation Planner with the City of Port Orange, Fla., and am keenly aware of many transportation issues including passenger system planning, operation and facility planning.  I attended the University of Tennessee and graduated with a B.A. degree in 1984 (majoring in geography with a minor in history) and attended graduate school studying planning in 1985-86. I maintain a thorough database of railroad operating system maps and a listing of abandoned lines and lines now operated by short line railroads. I also am a novice model railroader and am looking forward to the day to begin more advanced modeling and a permanent layout. I am a member of the National Railway Historical Society, Gulf Winds Chapter, and former a member of the Florida East Coast Chapter. I also am a member another railroad historical society.”

Gary Willoughby (new) writes: “Our organization is important to me in keeping our railroad alive and historically important. The railroad in Paris, Tenn. in the late 50's was all about the L&N, as I was born in 1950, just a few years too late, as it is said, to know anything about the NC, other than an occasional glance of a Geep south of town out my dad's shop window. Steam was gone, also, except for some on the IC, and while my dad was ticket agent at the L&N depot from 1958 to 1960, he had no love for the job and did not travel to watch trains. Even my first cab ride was in the L&N yard in an SW-1 switcher, as I distinctly remember all that glass! My first steam ride, however, was behind the General, when it was on tour in 1962, on the Memphis line. A glorious ride, head out the window all the way to Mackenzie, and, without knowing it, an NC fan forever. Finding this group was a real godsend, as before, I thought I was the only soul that wanted to see the 576 alive again. I still live in Paris, although am on the road a lot, being an owner operator leased on with a small trucking outfit in Jackson,Tenn. Giving some time and effort to further the cause, and continue the enjoyment of our preservation efforts, will be no chore, but an honor.”

Also this election, we bid fond farewell to Joe Bozeman of Kennesaw, who’s stepping down from the board but will remain active as our liaison with the Southern Museum. Thank you, Joe, for your dedication and work toward honoring the memory of the people and achievements of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry.

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