The Brooklyn Roundhouse is not a museum and is not well known to many steam engine buffs ... It was donated along with many steam engines and machinery in the 1960's ... It is manned and taken care of by volunteers such as Doyle McCormack the well known world class steam engineer .... Other volunteers I met were Tom Weisner, Greg Newcomb, Bob Sinclaire, David Marentette, Roy Jones, James W Thomas (Railroad Photographer), and Rudy ... another well known railroad personality.

7-25-08 .. Becky and I are dedicating this page to David Marentette who was a volunteer working on SP 4449 at the Brooklyn Roundhouse in Portland, Oregon. He fell last fall while working on the locomotive and, sadly, died a few weeks later as a result of traumatic brain injuries. Here is the combination of 2 emails we received from his wife Darcy today.

Dear Dr. Hemp,

My husband, David Marentette, was a volunteer working on SP 4449 at the Brooklyn Roundhouse in Portland, Oregon. He fell last fall while working on the locomotive and, sadly, died a few weeks later as a result of traumatic brain injuries. I am writing to you, because when I did a Google search several months ago, I found a wonderful photo you had taken of David with Doyle McCormack in front of the 4449. I would like very much to make an enlargement of that photo and have it framed. Would you be willing to share the photo with me. David taught geography at the University of Oregon in Eugene. After he retired in 1995, he began volunteering at the roundhouse in Portland two or three days a week. It is a two-hour drive each way, but he listened to recorded books on the road, and working on the locomotives was his passion. The guys who work at the roundhouse have a very special bond, which you could probably detect when you were there. They were great friends of ours, like family, so this loss was and still is very hard for them. They have been very supportive of me. Thank you so much for sharing your photos with me. Although I am keeping our home in Oregon, for the summer I am in Maine with my sister.

Thank you so much for your help. That is such a wonderful, happy photo of Doyle and David.
With warm regards,

Darcy Marentette

Of course we will send Darcy some printed photos .. and if you might have known David and you would happen to have some more photos or would like to contact Darcy email me for her address.

Dave & Becky Hemp



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