Valley of the shadow of death

The “valley of the shadow of death” was Route 19 between Centerville Road and Sy’s place. Charlie (Gardiner) and I walked it after 9:30 p.m. when we were sophomores living at Sy’s place.
It would be pitch-dark. The headlight of an Erie-Lackawanna F-unit would oversweep the valley (the Genesee-Valley) scaring Charlie and he would say “What was that?”
“The Second Coming, CG; and you’ve been left behind.”

This is the middle ‘60s, when both Charlie (Gardiner) and I were attending Houghton College. We lived in a rooming-house, known as “Sy’s place,” north of the campus. Charlie and I would be returning from the library. Houghton was a zealot college, and we were sinners.

“Houghton” is Houghton College, from where I graduated with a BA in 1966. I’ve never regretted it. Houghton is a religious college. The main highway through Houghton was State Route 19.

“Erie-Lackawanna” railroad, now tanked. EL was across the valley from Houghton. An F-unit is the full-cab (“Covered-Wagon”) freight diesel-electric railroad-locomotive made by General Motors’ EMD division ( Electromotive Division), GM’s manufacturer of railroad diesel-locomotives. Most railroads used EMD when they dieselized; although many now use General-Electric railroad diesel-locomotives.

“CG” is Charlie Gardiner.