Was minding my own business...taking pics of this helper-set at Tehachapi summit in December of 1981, when I noticed one of the crew members had some really long pigtails! Since this was over 24yrs ago...I guess it was still relatively rare to have female train crew members.
Somehow, I think pigtails with the proper hip structure kinda reinforces your assumption...however, I could be wrong, doncha know.
I really like to see "action" photos, with real humans in them doing the human stuff. We don't see enough of these. Great shot!
There was an article in Trains or maybe Classic Trains a few years ago about a woman "Boomer" who came to work on the SP in Houston about that time. If I recall, the article stated that women were not as common as today but not rare back then.
There was an article in Trains a year or so ago that was written by a woman railroad ex-employee. The woman in the article has a PhD, but wanted something different after finishing college so she joined SP in the Houston, TX area as a brakeman (brakeperson?) on locals. IIRC, she stayed with SP for nearly 20 years. Due to layoffs in the Houston area, she moved with SP to central or northern California before finally quitting. I believe she is now teaching at a college or university in the area. It was a very well written and interesting article.
If it's who I think it is, she wrote a book about her adventures on & off the railroad, her life, loves, struggle with alcohol, etc. IIRC, the book is called "Boomer". I last read it while in Cheyenne, WY last summer.
Great action photo! The ATN just hired a woman trainee, and she is 48 yrs old. She used to work at a steel mill operating remote control locomotives.
Occasionally I would see female hoggers come through on CSX before Katrina. They may be rare, but I would guess becoming more common.
*rotfl* I was surprised, that I was the one who had the guts to post it! I figured someone else would beat me to the punch..
