The last charter member of the Carbon County Railroad Commission resigned his post to his son this week to continue helping the county oversee the railroad that he helped purchase nearly 40 years ago.

On Thursday, the county commissioners approved the resignation of Richard E. Forgay of Lansford from the county railroad commission; as well as the appointment of Richard E. Forgay II to fill the unexpired term until Sept. 1, 2020.

Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard thanked Mr. Forgay, as he is called by many, for his service and wished him the best.

The 90-year-old Lansford native served on the railroad commission since its inception in 1980 and was instrumental in the purchase of the Nesquehoning Valley Branch line 1009, which the county still owns today. He was the man who named the line the Panther Valley line and even, “bought the Champagne for the initial signing ceremony,” he wrote in a personal letter in 2014.

Forgay worked with 14 commissioners to oversee the line over the last nearly four decades.

In an article published in 1981, the railroad commission finalized the purchase of the nearly 20 miles of line between Packerton Yards and Haucks Junction in Schuylkill County with the help of a portion of a $1.7 million Urban Development Action Grant that was secured by Lansford and Forgay, who served as secretary of Lansford Borough Council at the time.