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CLEVELAND, April 8 -- A member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers will be awarded the coveted Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award by the National Association of Railroad Passengers at a ceremony in Washington D.C. later this month.
Brother Patrick M. Corcoran of BLE Division 404 in Chicago, Ill., will receive the award at NARP's 1998 Washington Reception on April 23. He was chosen for the award based on his dedication and commitment to improving passenger safety in his role as locomotive engineer on the Union Pacific Railroad.
"Pat is deeply involved in Operation Lifesaver," said Paul Fessenbecker, Local Chairman of BLE Division 404. "He's totally committed to it."
Fessenbecker mentioned that Brother Corcoran has missed several runs in order to accommodate Operation Lifesaver presentations.
"His job is secondary," Fessenbecker said.
BLE members have received the honor three out of the five times it has been awarded. A 20-year BLE member, Corcoran joins BLE Division 35 Member Billy Parker and Division 404 Member Wayne Solomon as recipients of the Burch award. Brother Solomon was awarded the first-ever Burch award in 1994.
The award is sponsored and funded by the family of Dr. Gary Burch who was killed in 1991 when part of Amtrak's Silver Star hit freight cars on an adjacent track. The National Transportation Safety Board said the "probable cause was a poorly maintained switch."
CLEVELAND, April 9 -- As the oldest labor union in North America, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers will mark its 135th anniversary with the release of a limited edition history book later this summer.
Included in the 68-page history is a short profile of John Luther "Casey" Jones, one of the most famous BLE members in history.
Front cover of the limited edition BLE history book, which will be available by late spring or early summer.
A member of BLE Division 99 in Water Valley, Miss., Brother Jones was immortalized in song through the "Ballad of Casey Jones." While piloting his Illinois Central train, the "Cannonball Express," Jones remained at the throttle and gave his life to save his passengers as his train plowed into a stalled freight on the tracks near Vaughn, Miss.
Nearly 100 years later, Casey Jones remains the nation's eternal symbol of the bravery and dedication of locomotive engineers.
The history book contains many other colorful events about the BLE's 135 year history, which traces its origins back to 12 Michigan Central engineers who founded the union on May 8, 1863 in Marshall, Mich.
The book will soon be available free of charge to all BLE members in the United States and Canada.
CLEVELAND, April 7 -- At least one member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers will be featured in a History Channel documentary that will air on April 27.
Curtis McElroy of BLE Division 3 in Cleveland was interviewed in mid-March for an episode of "Trains Unlimited," the History Channel's weekly series about the history of railroading in North America. Brother McElroy will be featured in the April 27 episode titled "The Locomotive."
Curtis McElroy of BLE Division 3 in Cleveland will appear in the History Channel's April 27 documentary titled "The Locomotive" as part of the "Trains Unlimited" series.
"I'm proud that our members were able to help the History Channel with its latest project," BLE President Clarence Monin said. "I want to thank each and every member who volunteered to help."
Monin said nearly 100 members responded to the BLE's call for volunteers to participate in the documentary, including several female and minority BLE locomotive engineers.
"I'd like to recognize these individuals and thank them for their support," Monin said.
The hour-long locomotive documentary is one of 26 episodes produced by Greystone Communications for the History Channel as part of the "Trains Unlimited" series, which airs on Mondays at 10 p.m., ET.
The History Channel provided the BLE with a preview of the April 27 locomotive documentary:
"For early railroad engineers, the locomotive had an open seat, a few arm controls and a voracious need for coal," its release said. "Today, the locomotive is the enclosed cockpit of a computerized, high-speed missile hurtling the countryside at speeds of over 150 mph. Trace the evolution of train power, from early steam models to diesel engines to the SD-90 MAC, an exhilarating system poised to pull train transport into the next millennium."
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