40avery
09-29-2008, 10:43 PM
A Tribute to Leonard “Butch” Kracht
by Ricky Halldorson
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii219/353ric/Butchminnie0001a.jpg
Leonard “Butch” Kracht
Husband, Father,Grandfather,brother,uncle,Friend,Teamster (as in horseman),Steam engineer, cat skinner, firefighter, rail roader, tractor puller, milk hauler, tree mover, septic tank pumper, cop, judge, and probably a dozen more that I have not heard about.
Butch was a deeply passionate man.
He was passionate about horses. His team of Percherons were his pride and joy. Baxter and Benson would happily strut their stuff hitched to a sleigh and kicking up snow, sleigh bells jingling loudly as they pranced along. Butch with that Cheshire cat grin on his face.
He was passionate about heritage. The Sodbuster show was his favorite but he joined me at the Rollag and New Rockford also. Steam engines and steam threshing were a great joy for Butch.
Butch was passionate about cooking. He was the best outdoor cook I have known. I think he has cooked more pounds of meat than anyone could add up and he taught me a lot about the right and wrong ways to cook food over wood fires and even on steam engines.
At Rollag he got to partially live out a dream of being a locomotive engineer. He fired some and operated some on the 353 before his health deteriorated to the place that the physical strain would not allow him to do it any more. Like several others I have operated with, the communication got to be more non -verbal in the cab of the locomotive. A good fireman/engineer team does not have to talk much. They get to know how the other operates and the conditions the engine is working under and it all just comes together very naturally. That was the way it was with Butch and me.
I mentioned the fire hall. Butch was passionate about serving the community as a firefighter. He was one of the first members of the Enderlin Rural Fire Protection District and got the two original engines that the district owned tuned up and running so they could fight fires.
Butch loved tractor and truck pulls. He used to build and run pulling tractors.
Butch was passionate about old cars. Model T's model A’s muscle cars. You name it he knew about it and loved it.
Butch was passionate about restoring old tractors and pieces of machinery. We spent countless hours in his shop working on his projects, my projects, and occasionally when someone needed help - other people’s projects.
Butch loved nothing better than to pull a good "caper" on someone. We were on the railroad crew the year the Soo caboose from Enderlin came to Rollag. It had been a long day and Butch, myself, and two others from the crew climbed into the cupola of the caboose about an hour before we should be quitting for the day. The superintendent (Hartley E.) knew we were slacking it but didn’t know where we were. He kept calling me on the radio telling me to get a battery charger on the tie tamper so we could move it off of the main tracks. I kept telling him we would get right on it and then we just sat and talked some more. Well he found out where we were because Butch had his pickup parked beside the caboose. As he was walking up Butch said, As soon as his foot hits the step climb out on the roof. Just then we felt the shake of him hit the step and for some reason four grown men all bailed out of the small windows on the cupola and stood on the roof. We had Hartley bewildered until he looked out the window and saw the shadow on the ground of four guys on the roof. There was a lot of laughter and as with most stories involving Butch it has been told and retold many times.
I could write for a long time and fill many threads about Butch. To know Butch was to be touched by him and to know him well you probably got your life rearranged a bit by him. That happened because he cared enough about you that he wanted to share his experiences and make a difference in your life. It all came from living life to it’s fullest and getting involved in many business and volunteer efforts that allowed him the depth of experience to look into your life and suggest things that would make a difference.
by Ricky Halldorson
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii219/353ric/Butchminnie0001a.jpg
Leonard “Butch” Kracht
Husband, Father,Grandfather,brother,uncle,Friend,Teamster (as in horseman),Steam engineer, cat skinner, firefighter, rail roader, tractor puller, milk hauler, tree mover, septic tank pumper, cop, judge, and probably a dozen more that I have not heard about.
Butch was a deeply passionate man.
He was passionate about horses. His team of Percherons were his pride and joy. Baxter and Benson would happily strut their stuff hitched to a sleigh and kicking up snow, sleigh bells jingling loudly as they pranced along. Butch with that Cheshire cat grin on his face.
He was passionate about heritage. The Sodbuster show was his favorite but he joined me at the Rollag and New Rockford also. Steam engines and steam threshing were a great joy for Butch.
Butch was passionate about cooking. He was the best outdoor cook I have known. I think he has cooked more pounds of meat than anyone could add up and he taught me a lot about the right and wrong ways to cook food over wood fires and even on steam engines.
At Rollag he got to partially live out a dream of being a locomotive engineer. He fired some and operated some on the 353 before his health deteriorated to the place that the physical strain would not allow him to do it any more. Like several others I have operated with, the communication got to be more non -verbal in the cab of the locomotive. A good fireman/engineer team does not have to talk much. They get to know how the other operates and the conditions the engine is working under and it all just comes together very naturally. That was the way it was with Butch and me.
I mentioned the fire hall. Butch was passionate about serving the community as a firefighter. He was one of the first members of the Enderlin Rural Fire Protection District and got the two original engines that the district owned tuned up and running so they could fight fires.
Butch loved tractor and truck pulls. He used to build and run pulling tractors.
Butch was passionate about old cars. Model T's model A’s muscle cars. You name it he knew about it and loved it.
Butch was passionate about restoring old tractors and pieces of machinery. We spent countless hours in his shop working on his projects, my projects, and occasionally when someone needed help - other people’s projects.
Butch loved nothing better than to pull a good "caper" on someone. We were on the railroad crew the year the Soo caboose from Enderlin came to Rollag. It had been a long day and Butch, myself, and two others from the crew climbed into the cupola of the caboose about an hour before we should be quitting for the day. The superintendent (Hartley E.) knew we were slacking it but didn’t know where we were. He kept calling me on the radio telling me to get a battery charger on the tie tamper so we could move it off of the main tracks. I kept telling him we would get right on it and then we just sat and talked some more. Well he found out where we were because Butch had his pickup parked beside the caboose. As he was walking up Butch said, As soon as his foot hits the step climb out on the roof. Just then we felt the shake of him hit the step and for some reason four grown men all bailed out of the small windows on the cupola and stood on the roof. We had Hartley bewildered until he looked out the window and saw the shadow on the ground of four guys on the roof. There was a lot of laughter and as with most stories involving Butch it has been told and retold many times.
I could write for a long time and fill many threads about Butch. To know Butch was to be touched by him and to know him well you probably got your life rearranged a bit by him. That happened because he cared enough about you that he wanted to share his experiences and make a difference in your life. It all came from living life to it’s fullest and getting involved in many business and volunteer efforts that allowed him the depth of experience to look into your life and suggest things that would make a difference.