A Tribute to Great Railroaders 1-Conley Wright

Earlier this year, I decided to give away a number of my original drawings.  I feel that many of the best recipients of my drawings are the railroaders whom I respect.  One of the railroaders who I was lucky to meet is Conley Wright.  I gave Conley a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy SD9, as it is a railroad he fondly remembers.
It was truly an honor to meet Conley back in 2009 when I had just begun drawing trains after almost 10 years of not being able to draw. Bill Crisp and Conley both believed in me and loved my drawings. It definitely gave me the desire to do the 1,000s of hours of practice to get back my skills. I am often asked by many art critics where my work hangs, and I am always honored to tell them that my drawings hang in the offices and homes of railroaders and on some of the engines that pull their trains. Thank you Conley, for being there for me!!! You were the push that made me start drawing Norfolk Southern locomotives again and some of the first were a part of a dream I had that there be NS heritage engines. THANK YOU!!!!
The first time I met Conley was at a train show in Decatur, Illinois.  Conley mentioned to me that the railroaders of Norfolk Southern St. Louis Terminal were forming a Facebook page and that they all enjoyed my work.  He asked if I would join their Facebook group.  This gave me the confidence that there were fans who enjoyed my work.
The next thing I knew, I heard from people who had had my train magnets on their refrigerators for twenty years.  People had learned to read with my ABC’s of America’s railroads were now grown up and worked for the railroad.  It was truly exciting to become a railroad artist again.  I don’t think I would have discovered this without Conley Wright reminding me that there truly were so many people out there who knew and remembered my work.  Thank you so much, Conley.