When I Was Workin’ On the Railroad – Part VI, Leaving

It had always been my intention to return to college to earn a master’s degree. I had in mind an MBA and I ended up attending the University of Wisconsin starting in February, 1982. This was good plan, I thought, because the degree could be achieved in one calendar year since I had already earned a BBA at the University of Michigan.

In January of 1982, I reluctantly gave my notice and then my C&NW career came to an end after two fun years. You know, not everyone can say that their job is fun. I have had a number of software jobs since then and I would not call all of them fun.

While at the University of Wisconsin, I participated in the business school’s on-campus interviews. During this same time, I contacted the C&NW again to inquire about the possibility of returning. I was turned down but not because of my qualifications. Sadly, they had a hiring freeze on at the time so it was not to be. Happily, however, I did get a good job through an on campus interview with Texas Instruments and that began a significant turning point in my career and life. But that’s another story.

Skipping ahead to about 2002, I mentioned to an acquaintance in Colorado where I now live that I had once worked for a railroad in Chicago that didn’t exist anymore because it had become part of the Union Pacific. He said that he had a good friend who worked for the UP in Omaha who had once worked for the C&NW in Chicago. I immediately thought, “How many times had I heard this sort of thing?” He told me the fellow’s name and sure enough, it was someone I had known when I had worked there. In fact, it was the same person I had ridden with in the freight train that I wrote about in my previous post!

I ended up contacting Dean via email and we shared a few memories about people we had worked with way back when. Dean still worked for UP and I suppose he still does though I have lost contact with him once again and do not really know.