January 7th- The Sue Line Crew- Part 6

Post date: Jan 08, 2016 1:53:45 PM

After the holiday break, the Sue Line Crew got back to what it does best, operating the railroad and having fun.

Let's take a look at two more Sue Line Crew members-

CHARLES KNEIPP

Charles Kneipp got into the hobby when his mother gave him a Revell catalog while his family was stationed in Japan in the late '50's. The model railroad bug bit him hard and Charles Kneipp continued until the United States Navy limited his scope for six years.

After getting out of the United States Navy in 1971 and starting LSUS Charles Kneipp became more active in modeling and started going to Cook's Collectors Corner on a regular basis. After moving to the country, Charles Kneipp built a train room and his layout just “grew” without a plan.

In 1988, Charles Kneipp discovered the Sue Line and “operation” which was a watershed event for him. Charles Kneipp had been mostly a lone wolf and had just had engines to move, so discovering what the Sue Line did every week was a big influence on his layout- the Central Western.

After his layout became too complex and un-scenicable, Charles Kneipp did a total gut and rebuild in the mid 1990's and was influenced by the Sue Line and the Cat Mountain and Santa Fe (CMSF of David Barrow in Austin, Texas), big time.

At the Sue Line Charles Kneipp interests are the Extra Board and  the layout infrastructure including rolling stock maintenance. I have also benefited greatly from the Central Western being part of North Louisiana Connecting Railroads (NoLaCRA) conceptually as this enhances the sense of purpose of his own layout.

Charles Kneipp is married and has two career military sons and four grandchildren, and three rescue cats.

Charles Kneipp’s work schedule only gets him out to the Sue Line once or twice a month but Charles Kneipp will be retired in a few years and it will be back to every week.

Charles Kneipp is a lab tech at Omega Diagnostics and his  job involves analyzing other people's body fluids--- but it pays pretty well and it's inside.

JASON BUSEY

Jason Busey was born in 1971, and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. Jason Busey grew up on horseback and worked four summers wrangling almost 100  horses at a livery  in the Rocky Mountains.

When Jason Busey was 16 he joined the Caddo Parish Fire District 9 volunteer fire department and was a firefighter and Emergency Medical Service member (EMS) for the next 12 years. Jason Busey has been a registered nurse working in and around critical care for 22 years and for the last 12 years Jason Busy has been a clinical specialist for the medical division of Philips.

Jason Busey has a 21 year old daughter, Kaitlin Busey and a 1 year old granddaughter, Evalynn.

Jason Busey’s favorite place is to be in the Rocky Mountains where he does a lot of hiking and fishing on remote mountain lakes

Jason Busey’s  maternal grandparents lived a block from the Southern Pacific  line in Gulfport, Mississippi and whenever Jason Busey would visit he would listen impatiently to hear “mamaw’s train”. When Jason Busey heard the sound of a horn in the distance he would beg until someone walked with him to the tracks to watch the train go by. So between his grandparents’ house and always asking for Santa to bring him a train set Jason Busy’s love for trains started early.

For the last 8 years Jason Busey has not only been a member of the Sue Line but also part of the Louisiana Arkansas & Western (LA&W of Jim McClure) where he serves as chief dispatcher. On the LA&W crew Jason Busey enjoys spending time creating and building new scenery.  

For some time Jason Busey has been collecting locomotives, rolling stock, buildings, and other various pieces to one day build my own layout, the Kepler Red Line (KRL).  The KRL will be a modern “heritage” railroad running not only late model diesel locomotives but also a well maintained steam fleet ranging from 0-8-0’s to Big Boys.