Burlington Northern Adventures

Back Cover: Burlington Northern F-7 diesel 716 and GP-7 diesel 1532 were awaiting their next freight assignments at Grand Forks, North Dakota, in February 1979. Photo by Steve Glischinski.

Front Cover: Burlington Northern freight train 132 created a flurry while traversing a snow-packed grade crossing at Harwood, North Dakota, February 18, 1979. Photo by Steve Glischinski.

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Contents 5 Acknowledgments 7 Foreword 9 lntroduetion 15 Chapter 1: Hopping Freights and Other Adventures Almost Killed by the Silver Comet/ C'mon Gang, Let's Go Get Em!/ A Trip to Winder/ A Stop in Virginia/ I Try To Hire On The Southern Railway 43 Chapter 2: Grand Forks, North Dakota Green Block/ My First Trip as a Brakeman/ A Guilty Conscience in Walhalla/ Asleep in the Locomotive/ Jumping for My Life/ My Stints As Engineer/ The Crookston Switch 71 Chapter 3: Furloughed Winter in Minot/ A Friendly Invitation in Alliance Turns Bad/ The Race at Crawford Curve/ The 39 Dodge/ A Trip with the Milwaukee Queen/ My First (And Last) Trip As A Conductor/ 103 Chapter 4: Back to Grand Forks A Locomotive Burns in Edmore, North Dakota/ Venison Steaks and the Blizzard Party/ Boxing in the Locomotive/ Chicken/ Manitoba Junction Revisited/ Stick to the Switchlist!/ Lunch On The 124/ Battle of the Beaters 133 Chapter 5: A Promotion to Trainmaster Furloughed Again/ The Assessment Center for Future Trainmasters/ The Legend of Pisser Bill/ Drunk and Disorderly!/ The DNM (Denver to Memphis) Must Leave On Time!/ The End of The Track

Railroading in the Days of the Caboose copyright 2004 by William J. Brotherton South Platte Press digest size, 159 pages, adhesive binding Burlington Northern Adventures relate the personal experiences of the author, William J. Brotherton, who went "railroading" as a brakeman, conductor and trainmaster for the Burlington Northern Railroad system during the 1979-1982 period. Through his many interesting short stories, Brotherton illustrates what it was like to work for a major railroad company before branch lines, vintage diesel locomotives and cabooses were phased out. His accounts show what has changed within the railroad industry since then−and what has not. Brotherton, who grew up around trains in Georgia, takes the reader along on his personal encounter with a railroader's life in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Colorado.