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US' first woman train engineer speaks in Las Cruces

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Posted by Ulrich on Thursday, March 16, 2017 10:31 AM

Great story .. Must have been tough to balance family needs and having children with the unpredictbale hours of railroading.. 

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Posted by rdamon on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 2:46 PM

More info here and a little better headline..

First female engineer for ATSF reflects on road less traveled

https://www.friendsofbnsf.com/content/first-female-engineer-atsf-reflects-road-less-traveled

 

 

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 2:38 PM

tree68
Paul_D_North_Jr

Pretty sure Trains had a photo and a brief caption of her back then (at about the same time as "C.A. McIntyre, BN Agent", Jan. 1974).  I'll have to look sometime. 

For that matter, there are plenty of stories about women working on the railroads, especially during the wars.  Never as Class 1 engineers, though. 

 

a brief history of women in railroading
from Trains April 1982  p. 20
"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by wanswheel on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 1:27 PM
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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 11:39 AM

Paul_D_North_Jr

Pretty sure Trains had a photo and a brief caption of her back then (at about the same time as "C.A. McIntyre, BN Agent", Jan. 1974).  I'll have to look sometime. 

Seems like there were several women featured in that article...

For that matter, there are plenty of stories about women working on the railroads, especially during the wars.  Never as Class 1 engineers, though.

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 11:15 AM

Pretty sure Trains had a photo and a brief caption of her back then (at about the same time as "C.A. McIntyre, BN Agent", Jan. 1974).  I'll have to look sometime. 

- PDN. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Ulrich on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 10:49 AM

The first among quite a few... women began to work as brakemen and firemen in the 1960s.. 

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US' first woman train engineer speaks in Las Cruces
Posted by rdamon on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 10:32 AM

http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2017/03/14/us-first-woman-train-engineer-speaks-las-cruces/99192054/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin=

 

Direct link to museum.  (Did not work for me)

http://www.las-cruces.org/departments/community-and-cultural-services/museum-system/railroad-depot-museum

LAS CRUCES – El Paso native Christine Gonzalez gained nationwide fame in the 1970s as the first woman in the United States to become an engineer for a Class 1 railroad.

Gonzalez – now Christine Aldeis – began her career at age 20 in 1973 with Santa Fe Railroads, she recalled Tuesday at the Las Cruces Railroad Museum, where she spoke about her pioneering work.

Her lecture was part of the museum’s monthlong celebration of women who have made significant contributions to the railroad industry. (SNIP)

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