The train Gang

By Dale Goodwin

Tom Tilford has always had a fascination with trains. His grandfather was an engineer for Great Northern Railway. Gonzaga Chancellor Father Bernard J. "Barney" Coughlin, S.J. and his father both worked at one time for the Santa Fe Railroad. So it didn't take Tom much coaxing to get Barney to help him recruit a few others to take a train to the 2000 West Coast Conference basketball tournament at Santa Clara University. "This is what bored old men do when they don't have anything else to do with their time," dead-panned Tilford, chair of GU's Board of Trustees. These guys are anything but bored. They're too busy performing good deeds for others.

The Train Gang cast also includes Trustee Don Herak ('46), and Regents Jim Workland ('64 J.D.), Gary Randall (law professor emeritus), and Ed Ralph ('48). "Barney brings the tradition, having worked for the railroad," Tilford said. "Tom is the travel agent," Coughlin added. "He got this thing rolling." "Don is the social director," Workland said. "He keeps us busy."

Randall and Ralph are the self-appointed peace-keepers. "Sometimes this group needs to be quieted down," Randall said. This group likes to play when they board the train. "We tell the porters and stewardesses that there's a priest among us, and ask them to pick the priest," Randall said. "Barney is never picked. Jim Workland is often picked," to his comrade's shock. "That's easy to understand as it's obvious that I look the hokiest," Workland said without a blink. As he sees it, that makes him the spiritual leader. "Workland is always saying, 'Thank you my child,' when someone brings him a drink or something to eat," Randall said. "We think he might be hearing confessions, as well."

Workland loves going through the mountains. Herak love the stories – "Not a one of them ever believable…and there are a few we can't repeat." "Don's been known to almost get us thrown off the train," Workland said.

Herak fired back, "If there's a troublemaker in our group, it's Workland." Obviously these gentlemen have a good time. Imagine Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon together on a train…you get the picture. "The camaraderie is what makes these trips so special," Coughlin said. The Train Gang flew to San Diego for the 2003 WCC tournament, but rode the rail home. They were joined by Trustees Jack McCann and Don Nelles on a train trip back to Minneapolis last fall for a Trustees meeting. The only arm-twisting necessary is to get one of them to tell a believable story.