Pete Williams

Williams, posing on the front of an unknown locomotive

Mike Williams - brother

Stephanie Campbell - sister

Pete Williams is the current owner/foreman of the Lower Duck Pond Railroad (LDPRR).

## Early Life

Pete was born on July 1st, 1971 outside of Chicago, IL (either the East Chatham or Harksdale neighborhood, unsure) to parents Hank F. Williams (of no relation to popular country musician, Hank Williams) and Mary Beauford. He spent the first few years of his life in Illinois before his parents decided to move to Lower Duck Pond, their hometown.

During his childhood, he and his father would attend the nearby Arkhill boat migration. His father joined the migration in 1975, brought Pete along in 1979 until 1988, and continued to attend until his death in 2017. He owned an antique wooden boat named "Lady Annette." It is currently in the possession of Pete's brother Tom, who lives in Arkhill.

Pete attended Central High School, graduating in 1988. According to Pete, he was a stoner throughout high school, but stopped completely after he "saw a message at the end of an arcade game that said "Winners Don't Do Drugs."" Despite this quote, his history would suggest that this isn't true.

## Career

After graduating from high school, Pete attended an unknown American university. It is during this time that Pete decided to start a band, as he had some experience playing piano. His band emerged once he graduated from college in 1993, playing their debut gig at Paddy O'Brien's Pub in Atlantic City, NJ. Unfortunately, that gig did not earn them as much fame as they had hoped for, so the band decided to break up.

Not long after that, in late 1993, Pete went to work for an unspecified railroad, operating coal trains. Not much is known about his time there as the railroad was relatively small and declared bankruptcy in February of 1994.

In mid-1994, Pete decided to travel out-of-country to "find himself." He ended up in Nepal, where he befriended a group of sherpas, with whom he got high with. It is unknown when and how he returned to Lower Duck Pond after this, but records would suggest he came back after 5 months in Nepal. In late 1995, Pete was approached by the former owner of the LDPRR while under the influence of marijuana. The owner, whose identity is currently unknown, offered Pete a job on the railroad, to which Pete jokingly replied, "I could run the railroad for you if you wanted." The owner took this seriously and left him with the ownership of the railroad. Pete did not realize this until several days later, when he got a note from the owner saying that he was leaving town and that he trusted him with the railroad.

Over the next several years, Pete took it upon himself to fix or improve anything on the railroad that needed fixing or improving. One such task was the restoration of LDPRR #7, a small shunter engine he found in a shed, falling apart. Starting in November of 1995, Pete and the rest of the employees on the railroad restored the engine to working condition over the span of 2 years. In May of 1996, Pete hired a group of contractors to fix up the main station in Lower Duck Pond. Having only been in the building a couple of times before, Pete was unsure what needed to be fixed, so he told the group to give the building a general restoration. To raise money for this project, Pete started a fundraising event called the Lower Duck Pond Fun Run 1996. The event was a huge success and ended up raising enough money for the project to begin. For such events in the railroad's history, Pete has been recognized as one of the railroad's main contributors to its success.

## Personal Life

After returning from Nepal, he met a girl named Lucy Powell. They dated and eventually married in late 1994, giving birth to a son, Dan Williams, in September of 1995. On January 1st, 2020, Pete spotted Horsey Joe, a horse that would bring luck to those that encountered him, according to legend. However, he became incapacitated due to a train accident that left him with a broken leg and some internal bleeding.

## Trivia

* Pete was one of the masterminds behind his senior prank back in 1988, where he and two other friends borrowed three sheep and numbered them 1, 2, and 4, and then let them loose in the school.
* For his whole life, Pete has lived within a quarter mile of a railroad (the Illinois Central while in Illinois, USA, the unknown railroad for which he worked for a short time, and the LDPRR while in Lower Duck Pond).
* Pete owns a 1969 Chevy Camaro SS (previously owned by his father)
* The band that Pete was a part of was named The Blacksmiths. The name was given by frontman Ronnie Sykes (stage name?) whose family had a long line of members in the iron/steel industry.
	+ While in the band Pete played keys, specifically a Yamaha DX-7, which he still has in his possession.

1. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/HaveWeMet/comments/ej0v0f/daily\_discussion\_january\_02\_2020\_tell\_us\_about/fcvnrqu?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x