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27 May 2004
Reporting for
Duty
This past week (as I write
this), I was privileged to attend the annual Railroader of the Year dinner sponsored by Railway Age,
a sister publication that lists the esteemed editor of RT&S as Engineering Editor on its masthead.
Several hundred railroad men and women gathered to pay tribute to this year's honoree, CPR's Robert
Ritchie, and to listen to his speech, "20-20 Vision: Creating the North American
Railroad Network for Future Generations."
Early in his speech, Ritchie said, "In the early 1970s, the chairman of CP was a crusty old Scot,
a physically-imposing man by the name of Ian Sinclair, who business leaders and union
leaders alike addressed as "Big Julie". He liked to say to new recruits like myself that
"people at CPR don't come to work. They report for duty". He came from that generation that
knew a thing or two about self-denial and self-sacrifice - and I think his
words are still true today for all railroaders."
His words triggered several responses in my mind. As I looked at the head table, I was struck by some
of railroading's greatest, who are past winners of the award. Those who sat there included names such
as Barriger, Jacobson, Johnson and Reed. Are they the last of a proud breed of railroaders, or are
they torchbearers who made the railroad industry better by their efforts in order to pass it on to
another generation? You'd be hard put to find four more diverse personalities, but each in his own
way made tremendous contributions to the industry they served, and, in some cases, are still serving,
so very well.
I think all four "reported for duty" rather than just coming to work.
Right now, I firmly believe the railroad industry is poised on the edge of a bright future. Or else
it will plunge into an insignificant role in the nation's transportation infrastructure. It depends
on those coming on the property now and how they do their jobs.
Over the next 10 years, tens of thousands of railroaders will retire. As more and more new
railroaders, both men and women, take their places in track gangs, in train service, in the shops and
up in the corner offices, they will usher in a new era in railroading. I'm in the
over-the-hill gang myself, but I feel confident when I say that the new generation will
not put up with things older railroaders take for granted: long hours, time away from home, ancient
work rules designed for the steam locomotive era, etc. As both labor and management try to deal with
the new employees, they're going to find they have a tiger by the tail and old-fashioned
ways of dealing with them simply won't work.
Yes, it's up to us who have hung around to make sure the new people are trained in safety and work
knowledge, but we're simply not going to be able to pass on our attitudes and beliefs to this new
group. Ain't gonna happen.
In many ways, that's good. The industry has grown stodgy and inbred over the past couple of decades.
Much sooner than we think, it will be another generation's turn, and it's going to be very, very
interesting when they "report for duty".
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