Bill Kepner

In 1987, Bill saw a note in the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club newsletter that a group was going to meet in Chama for a 4 day "restoration session". He arrived in Chama that day and quickly got put to work scraping paint off of once of the refrigerator cars. Bill has been back to volunteer every year since, and has been involved in in many projects from literally one end of the railroad to the other, such as working with the Square Nail Gang in Osier, to the restoration of caboose 0579 and the Tourist Sleeper #470.

Recently retired from a career in Computer Software Engineering, Bill believes it is important to build relationships with other volunteer organizations and has worked with the Colorado Railroad Museum, the Colorado Model Railroad Museum, and in 2021 was happy to volunteer with the Friends of the East Broad Top in Pennsylvania.

His wife Cindy is very supportive in these efforts, and his son, Chase, volunteered for several years until college and moving out of state to become a Locomotive Mechanic at a large regional railroad. These experiences have reinforced the understanding of how hard it is for younger people to be involved with organizations like the Friends.