Farewell to Fellow Contributor and Friend, Jtgshu

It was a shock to say the least to hear the news this morning and I still don't want to believe it. John was a great man and a great railroader. He really loved his job and had an infectious positive attitude that would make everyone around him smile. On the job and off I always enjoyed swapping stories with him, and he could always be counted on to be the first in line to offer his help in any way when someone needed it. It's sad for us, but in a way I know we should be happy for him because he is now reunited with his mother who he missed dearly. I'm glad I had a chance to know him for as long as I did, and I'm proud I can say he was a friend. I'm sure he will be watching over us all. It's only so long, for now, though as I'm sure we will see him again someday when we all get the call from that head crew caller who we can't be dropped by.

"God saw you were getting tired and a cure was not to be
so he took you in his arms and he whispered "come to me".

With tearful eyes we watched you and we saw you pass away,
although we loved you dearly we couldn't make you stay.

Your golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest,
God broke our hearts to prove to us, HE ONLY TAKES THE BEST."

Words have and will continue to escape me. The nights at the "Tippling House" just won't be the same. Hell, I doubt anything will. So long John. It was an honor among honors to be your friend. All the great jokes, and just being there
I remember you showing up at Mama Rosina's on your break after Zim and Kaback took me there to cheer me up after I failed the LIRR entrance exam. Hope you're having fun up there and catching up on all those episodes of Top Gear you missed!

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all of the kind words about John. So many of us were friends with this guy and he was simply one of the best human beings that there ever was. He was also one of the best and most faithful posters in here and a true, dedicated and passionate person in his craft, first as a conductor and later as an engineer.

I first met John Gaughran 10 years ago when he was a rear brakeman on a train that I rode regularly on the NEC. I later found out that this person was the famous "Jtgshu" of Railroad.net. I became fast friends with him, like so many did. He was simply a hell of a nice guy.

John was eager to learn and had seemingly boundless energy. When he told me yesterday that he was feeling sick and was staying home from work, I, like Brandon more or less said "that doesn't sound like John" but didn't think much of it...

I called up Bob Daniels (TR-00) who was his instructor when John was becoming an engineer, and he is heartbroken. John would always tell good stories about Bob and Bob does the same about John. John was a goofball who loved good stories and loved living good stories. John made his life a GREAT story, and one which I am devastated to say has come to an end.

John Gaughran would give you the shirt off of his back and make you laugh while doing so. John Gaughran was the guy who bought me a slice of pizza in New York Penn once when I ran into him because that's who he was. John Gaughran was the guy who would board a train with his face covered in coupler grease sporting a silly grin. He was one hell of a guy. I have some pictures in my archive of him as a conductor that I will try to dig up and post here. I always threatened him that one day I would post them here... never actually thought the day would come when I would.

When i was trying to get into ltep back in 2006 i had asked him what needed to be done. He didn't blow me off with "just fill out the app" that some might give. He went into great detail on what books to get at Barnes and Noble to study, how long the test was and gave the "what you might expect" if you get the job speech. I was extremely thankful that he did this. His help got me thru the test and to an interview. I didn't make it but he had sent me a pm and told me not to give up and keep trying. It was nice to see him go out of his way to find out what happened, he didn't have to. Sad to here the news of his passing.

RIP John

Really sorry to hear this. JT was one of those people you like to bump into on the internet. His contributions were always thoughtful and interesting. I hope his family is ok.

Like Nick11a, I first met John on the local train to Long Branch on my way home each evening. After I put 2 and 2 together and realized that this was one of the guys I talked with here on rr.net, we became friends. At the time I was working on ARC and would share plans and drawings with him. He was always quick to offer his opinion as to why something we were proposing would or would not work, giving the project a reality check from someone who actually worked on the railroad, as opposed to a bunch of us who sat behind desks all day. It was an invaluable learning experience. I just spoke with him on Saturday, he liked one of my pictues from NYC. He said he was sick and in pain, and that it was "scary". I'm glad i was able to be his friend, even if for a little while. He will be missed.

Man, I just could not read any of this without the tears rolling down my face from all the great things people had to say. I too became very good friends with John thru my travels on this site. I remember it was the bad ice storm we had in January of 2007 when him and I started chatting via PM on her then AIM and realized we had so much in common. From there we met up and started to hang out. He was above all a great friend, a great family member, a truly unselfish person who would do anything to help others out. John helped mentor me through step by step to get accepted in to NJTs LETP training program. He then helped me many times thru the program from beginning to end whenever I had a problem. He was the first person i called when they let me go, and I had to go find another job. He was the first person I talked to when I knew I was getting a job at Amtrak where I am now. I wish I could call him to tell him when my next big step will be at the railroad, but alas it will have to wait.

I dont know what else to say at the moment other than he will be greatly missed by his friends, family, co workers, people who may have never met him and people who may have known him for years.

This is no joke. JT will be missed sorely by many.

Although I have never met him he always seemed to be kind and always had an answer to my questions. It is without a doubt that he loved his job. Rest in Peace JT, you will be missed.


Chris

All the great words shared here cannot even describe how great of an all around guy John was.

As Brandon said, he was like "the big brother you never had." This was true not only for Brandon or myself, but for everyone John knew. Whenever someone was feeling down and needed someone to talk to, John was always there for you. He would always have something to say, and his constantly positive attitude always brought a smile to your face. Any times spent with him were always fun and memorable, and he could always make me laugh, whether I was talking to him on Facebook, riding his trains, driving around with him exploring local RR history, or even playing some pickup hockey.

When I was last with him on Wednesday, I had absolutely no idea that he would be running his last train on that night, and definitely didn't think that it would be the last time I would see him. But unfortunately, you never know.

Miss ya dude.

I shot this with JT a while back.

I can not recall how much I learned from him and how much he helped me to understand. He was also very supportive of my photography and other projects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogYN2P33mTg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I can only echo what others have already said here. Even though I never met him in person, I feel like I just took a punch to the gut upon learning this. He seemed like a great guy and I always enjoyed reading his posts and gained a lot of knowledge from them. Shocking and sad to say the least. Farewell, until our paths cross again...

I've actually had the pleasure of meeting John and he was very easy to talk to. I was actually preparing to pull a practical joke on him (I grabbed a Siemens hat and ACS-64 operator manual and was thinking of a snotty note to write against Bombardier and the Alps to leave in TOC for him) when I got the call that he passed.

May your Pearly Gate Express not follow the Acela, John.

I must say that of anything I read on this forum, John's posts were always the most informative. He always told it like it was, and if you didn't understand, he'd help explain it to you.

Reading all the posts here about members' personal friendships with John, he sounded like the rare kind of friend that is so hard to find. Although I never met John, and was never lucky enough to interact with him one-on-one on the forum, it saddens me like the loss of the one friend who always kept you grounded in reality (or in this case, grounded to the real railroad and out of the foamy clouds that tend to gather overhead).

John's presence will be noticeably missed. Thank you, John, for all the good information and good times on the forum...and the popcorn!

This is sad to hear. Although I never met him in person, he was a wealth of knowledge. I'm going to miss reading his posts.