“Quentin L. Breen passed away in Klamath Falls, Ore., on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. He was 68.
A private family interment will be held in Eugene. A local memorial service at Train Mountain Railroad Museum will be announced at a later date.

Quentin was born on Aug. 30, 1940, in Eugene, Ore., to Quirinus and Helena (DeValois) Breen. He attended South Eugene High School, University of Oregon, and Columbia School of Law. He began practice in San Francisco, Calif., specializing in foreign tax law. In the early 1980s, Quentin shifted focus to communications. In that field, he began formulating leading-edge technology companies.

One of the proudest accomplishments of his life was the construction of Train Mountain in Chiloquin, Ore., which appeared in the 2006 Guinness Book of World Records. Quentin also enjoyed international travel, fine dining and dancing.

Quentin was very proud of his intelligent, accomplished and beautiful daughters and also loved getting acquainted with his granddaughter. He married Sharon Addington on June 16, 2001, which was the first wedding aboard the Klamath Belle Paddlewheel.

Survivors include his wife Sharon of Chiloquin, Ore.; daughters Katherine O’Hara (Doug) of Chicago, Ill., and Molly Breen of San Francisco, Calif.; their mother Judith Breen of Berkeley, Calif.; granddaughter Zeb O’Hara; nieces and nephews Theresa Miller, Bernard Petersen (Sue), Debra Kamp (Gerry), Gregory Petersen (Myra), all of Eugene, Ore., and Kurt Petersen of St. Louis, Mo.; 13 grandnieces and grandnephews; three great-grandnephews; and stepchildren Shane, Seth and Sharmoni Addington.
Quentin was preceded in death by his sister Elizabeth Edna Petersen.
Eternal Hills Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Published in the Herald And News on 11/24/2008”

Quentin Breen at Train Mountain in 2006. Picture taken by Alberto Celot of Italy

I received the sad news that Quentin Breen, Founder of Train Mountain passed away suddenly on Friday, November 21, 2008.

Train Mountain,  located in Southern Oregon is the longest miniature railroad in the world. It is on over 2000 acres of Ponderosa Pine forest in Klamath County, the home of Crater Lake National Park.

They currently have 69,900 feet (13¼ miles) of 7½″ gauge mainline track and 133,250 feet (25¼ miles) of total trackage, which includes yards, sidings, and connector tracks.

Here is an email from Greg Petersen and Sharon Breen:

To our valued Members,

Greg Petersen and I, Sharon Breen are letting you officially know of Quentin’s passing at 2:30 A.M. this Friday morning November 21, 2008.  We are sorry to have not notified you sooner, but we were making arrangements today. I admitted Quentin to the emergency room on this Wednesday noon, just to
have him checked out as he wasn’t feeling well, and had some new achiness in his chest. After admission to the hospital, Quentin requested Greg’s presence on Wednesday afternoon, and Greg, Mrya and their son came quickly. He felt much better yesterday, and told Greg and Myra that they should go back home. However, and fortunately, they stayed. Suddenly, early this A.M., he went into respiratory distress, and then respiratory failure. Thankfully, his suffering was very brief. As per Quentin’s request, there will be a private family burial out of town. He specifically requested a memorial service to be held at Train Mountain later. The details
are still being arranged but it will be in the spring. You will all be notified of the event. As the Vice Presidents of Train Mountain, Greg and I wish to assure you that we are each committed to our valuable members, to Train Mountain itself, and to the future enjoyment of this great hobby on Quentin’s superb creation.
We will send you more information soon. If you would like to send anything, (please no flowers), send to the Train Mountain address:
36941 S. Chiloquin Rd.
Chiloquin, OR 97624
With gratitude,
Greg & Sharon

If anyone has a picture of Quentin with one of his trains, please pass it on to me for this post!