Gordon French

Gordon French was an avid live steamer. He was an early member of both the Golden Gate Live Steamers and the West Valley Live Steamers, focusing on 3.5 inch gauge models.

Gordon was also a pioneering home computer hobbyist. He hosted the first meeting of the Home Brew Computer Group at his house in Menlo Park, California.

High Line
From Chaski.org, 17 May 2015:


 * To the new folks who are maintaining the high track,


 * Many of the GGLS members consider the high track a nuisance that has to be stepped over to get to the REAL TRACK. It is anything but. The high track is fun, and as has been discussed elsewhere here you can get your loco out of the trunk of your car!


 * I first joined the GGLS in 1965 and the first order of business was the replacement of the picnic tables! The weather takes it toll and when we moved to Tilden at the top of the hill directly behind the Golden Gate, we got the full force of the San Francisco fog. The constant nightly dampness at Tilden creates a rain forest effect at the top of that hill that utterly destroys wood. Dr. Dick Thomas saw to replacing the picnic tables with steel overlayed with some kind of plastic that keeps the moisture at bay. But for many many years we kept trying to keep those rails supported by wood. Charlie Pickup and his son did their damndest to fasten the rails to something that just kept deteriorating. Finally Chris Leggo and Stan James came up with a track holding strap that when clamped to the foot of the rail, kept the rails in relation to each other without a brace of spikes. I myself drove over 3,000 screws to attach the plates to the structure done over several weeks. The wood that is up at Tilden will keep going bad until concrete stringers finally replace the wood. I and other GGLS high track folks have put 100's of hours into that wooden track over the years.


 * Gordon French
 * Roseburg, Oregon

From Chaski.org, 17 April 2015:


 * I have and (try to) operate 3 different 3.5" gauge engines.


 * I've been a member of the Golden Gate Live Steamers and have gone to the bay area to run. But despite being a member since 1965 and having held every office except Treasurer, I am now on a fixed income and can't afford their (Associate) member dues, so I dropped out at the end of 2013.


 * I've posted various places that the "high track" guys should stick together and build another track somewhere in the west. I see other posts where 4-3/4 inch gauge are thinking about Train Mountain. Meanwhile there are places where something COULD be built If enough guys were interested.


 * Gordon French
 * Roseburg, Oregon

Death
Gordon died on Saturday, October 26, 2019 in Roseburg, Oregon. He was born in 1935, making him 84 years old at the time of his passing.