Peter D. Wrote:
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> Did your reailroad career begin because of your encounter with Mr. Reed and Mr. Edison?

No. A friend of mine who worked for Santa Fe ("Tom H") put in a good word for me with the HR person when he knew I was looking for work after my previous employer laid me off. He also knew that ATSF was in need of some people.

To get hired on at the railroad it helps to "know somebody" and nepotism does take place. I know of an extended family where about ten to fifteen of them are all employed by the railroad, spread over several crafts.

Leaning on the president of the railroad to help you get a job may or may not have a favorable outcome. Without naming names, I've heard a story of a guy who had the president of the Illinois Central work to get him hired into an entry level position as a switchman. When his co-workers learned of this, they teased him relentlessly about it. "Hey, President's Boy! When you get done winding up that turntable, the shop foreman needs a couple of buckets of steam that you can get off that locomotive!"

This guy worked his way up through several departments at various railroads and he's since become more familiar than he probably wants to be with IRS people, bankruptcy judges and angry creditors, especially around Alamosa, CO. I haven't seen him posting much lately on Trainorders. Maybe he's currently hanging out in Christmas Town.