Robert Bowers

[NW Mailing List]

Those are wonderful words about Bob. 
We used to stop by his store on our way home from visiting my in-laws and
enjoyed all his works. 
Prayers for him and his family.
Phil Miller

-----Original Message-----
From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of NW
Mailing List
Sent: Monday, April 8, 2024 10:04 PM
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: Robert Bowers

It is with great sadness that I learned of Bob Bowers passing.

Bob was born in Westminster, Maryland. Bob served with the Navy in Vietnam
transporting infantry up and down the delta rivers. He followed that working
for the CIA installing diesel generators at embassies around the world.

His interest in the N&W grew in the 70's when he lived in Portsmouth. 
Virginia watching the diesels push coal through the loaders at Lamberts
Point. Bob began recording the numbers of every N&W diesel locomotive he
would see. He soon had a contingent of other railfans sending him sightings
of N&W diesel locomotives elsewhere on the system.

When personal computers arrived he had a coworker write a program for him to
catalog all his sightings. Bob then went on to tracking cabooses and
maintenance of way equipment. Bob's catalogs containing over 400,000 records
are now on the NWHS web site at https://www.nwhs.org/data/

With Jim Brewer, Bob coauthored the first N&WHS publication "Cabooses of the
Norfolk & Western" in 1994. Bob also co-authored a number of books on N&W
Diesels.

Bob owned Ken's Trains, a hobby shop on Orange Avenue in east Roanoke. 
Bob operated the society sales program for over 20 years and maintained the
society's financial records. He was a board member from the 90's into 2015.
He held every position in the society, including a one-day stint as
president during one turbulent directors meeting.

Bob had an extensive slide collection which he donated to the Archives. 
His donation contained over 38,000 slides which can be seen at
https://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/listdocs/select.php?AccessionNum=2014.015

Few people dedicated as much of their time or their wealth to the NWHS as
Bob Bowers.

I will miss him.

Ron Davis

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