FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Reed Jackson, a 35-year Union Pacific veteran with 12 years of major involvement in the railroad’s steam program, died Saturday of complications of surgery. He was 54 years old.
Jackson’s father was a superintendent on Denver & Rio Grande Western, and Jackson worked briefly for Rio Grande before being furloughed and joining UP as a Denver-based switchman. Friend Rod McClure said Jackson got the “passenger bug” while working on Amtrak’s California Zephyr, which UP forces crewed at the time.
Jackson began working on the steam program in the 1980s, and transferred to work out of Cheyenne, Wyo., the program’s home base, at that time. Steam program boss Steve Lee asked Jackson to join full time 12 years ago during the Pacific Limited trips.
Friend Hal Lewis commented, “He was your consummate good guy, very easy to get along with.” McClure added, “He was pretty much loved by everybody who knew him.”
