BNSF News

BNSF Special Continues Trek

2010-06-07

The BNSF Special continued its 2010 run the week of May 31, including trips out of Fort Scott, Kan., and Tulsa, Okla., for employees and their families.

The 6,000-mile journey began May 28 in Topeka, Kan., and will visit 13 cities in six states before it ends on June 18.

Fort Scott, Kan.

More than 500 people participated in the Fort Scott area. Among them were Bobbie Barber, 46, and her mother, Roberta Sparks, 76. Though Sparks hasn't spent much time on trains in the last few decades, in her youth she rode the train to go shopping. In the 1930s and '40s, "that's the only way we had to get around," Sparks said. She lived in LaCygne, Kan., and the Frisco passed through town. Her family would make the short ride to Boicourt, which was a busy town in those days, and visit its stores. And once or twice a year, they'd ride it to Union Station in Kansas City for a bigger shopping spree.

Bobbie is the spouse of Samuel Barber, 47, a machinist who works at Argentine Yard. "I think it's nice the company's still doing this," he said. He's been with the company for 12 years and said he likes how "everybody watches out for each other."

"I'm working with some of the best people I've ever worked with in my life," Barber said.

His coworker, Bill Vavricek, 43, also a machinist at Argentine, was along for the ride as well with his wife, Janet. Vavricek appreciated the opportunity to take a ride on the Special. "This is great," he said. "I'm getting to see a part of the countryside I don't see much."

Tulsa, Okla.

The 2010 BNSF Special pulled into Tulsa early Friday morning, June 4, for a three-day visit. The day's events started with an afternoon trip for nearly 350 boisterous children from several Boys & Girls Clubs, and the fun continued into the evening with a trip for employees and their families.

The McCullochs from Tulsa were among the participating families. Kenneth R. McCulloch, age 84, rode the train along with his son Paul, 52, and grandsons Brenten and Sean, ages 19 and 16. The ride was arranged by Paul's brother, James R. McCulloch, who has been an engineer for 30 years dating back to the Frisco.

"When I was just a kid there were only two airplanes flying [in this area] so we rode the train," Kenneth McCulloch said. In 1945, he was a serviceman stationed at Scott Field, Ill. and training to be a radio operator/mechanic. After visiting home in Lebanon, Okla., he rode the Frisco's Meteor, the steam-driven passenger train that went from Oklahoma City to Tulsa and on to St. Louis, "trying to get back to camp on time so I wouldn't go AWOL."

Asked if he always succeeded, Kenneth McCulloch said, "Well, they never caught me."

Also aboard were David and Mary Lou Stroup of Sapulpa. David Stroup was a locomotive engineer for 36 years, starting with the Frisco, then with Burlington Northern and then BNSF before retiring in 2004.

"We're a railroad family," Stroup said. His son, Mike, is currently an engineer with BNSF, and his father, Ralph, was a clerk with the Frisco, working in the depot at Sapulpa. Ralph died in 2004. David's mother Juanita, 90, worked as a dispatcher during World War II.

David's wife, Mary Lou, said of him, "He knew he wanted to be an engineer since he was 10 years old. He used to play in the Harvey House at Sapulpa. Once he found a train order with Gene Autry's signature on it."

The BNSF Special left Tulsa on Sunday night, Jun 6, for Springfield, Mo., where employees and family members will have a chance to ride the train on Monday and Tuesday, June 7-8.

Click here to see photos.

BNSF Headquarters

BNSF Railway Company
2650 Lou Menk Dr. 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000

For more information on the company and its transportation solutions, visit the BNSF Web site at www.bnsf.com